El Aleph

First edition. 8vo. Pp. 146, [5]. Integral pistachio-green publisher's wraps, printed in red and black. Front cover vignette by Attilio Rossi. Index. Date of publication to colophon stated, 26th June 1949.

Primera edición. In-8. 146, [5]pp. Tapas originales. Viñeta de tapa por Attilio Rossi.

Slight slant to spine, hint of toning to textblock edges, else a near pristine copy of a fragile production.

A collection of 13 short stories, followed by an Epilogue, in which Borges gives full reign to his life-long preoccupations: death, gauchos, and men of war. Full of philosophical puzzles and supernatural surprises, the title story itself refers to an all-encompassing point in the universe, pertaining to the space-time continuum: "Vi el Aleph, desde todos los puntos, vi en el Aleph la tierra, y en la tierra otra vez el Aleph y en el Aleph la tierra". ["I saw the Aleph from every point and angle, and in the Aleph I saw the earth and in the earth the Aleph and in the Aleph the earth"]. The tales were initially serialised separately in SUR, the leading Argentine literary journal.

En las propias palabras de Borges: "Ficciones y El Aleph (1949 y 1952) son, según creo, mis libros más importantes". (Autobiografía pp.111–112).

[Becco 37; Helft, pp. 72, 151 & 256]