A DICTIONARY OF BORGES (First edition)

First impression of the true first edition. With forewords by Mario Vargas Llosa & Anthony Burgess, and a two-page sketch map of Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil and Buenos Aires to the fore. Cover drawing by Héctor Basaltua. ***Near fine in black cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to the spine. The gilt is still beautifully bright. The boards are clean and unmarked. Page block edges also clean and white. No bumps or creases to the boards. Corners sharp. Spine tight. Internally also near fine, with no inscriptions or annotations. Pages clean. No creases or tears. ***In a near fine black and white illustrated dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's price of £19.95 net. The white colour of the dustwrapper is clean and unmarked. No creases or tears - just very slight creasing at the head of the spine. Dustwrapper crisp and bright. ***270 pages including biographical summary to rear. 240 mm x 160 mm. ***'We have long needed this dictionary. New readers of the Master, as well as old, will bless its compilers.' [Anthony Burgess] ***'This is a book that would have been to Borges' taste. With true erudition it organises, classifies, defines and collates the thousand and one creatures of his imagination.' [Mario Vargas Llosa] ***'Jorge Luis Borges, who died in 1987 a the age of 86, is one of the most original and at the same time one of the most 'difficult' twentieth-century writers. Though his output was small the range of his erudition was vast, and the number of arcane references in his fiction to people and places real and imaginary can baffle even the most learned reader. This invaluable handbook covers the canon of Borges' fiction, providing basic information on every allusion. There are more than 1200 entires in all, from Alexander of Aphrodisias to Zarathustra; every relevant subject is treated, from Classical and Icelandic folklore to Chinese etiquette and the heresies of Gnosticism. Textual references are to the English and American versions and also to the Spanish originals. Dr Fishburn and Dr Hughes, both specialists in Borgesian studies, have produced an admirably concise work of reference which makes accessible to the general reader the imaginative world of one of the most challenging writers of the modern age.' [Quote and review quotes taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper] ***First impression of the true first edition in its original dustwrapper, very hard to find in such nice, clean and bright collectable condition. Uncommon. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.…