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MODERN LITERATURE, ART AND HISTORY
Lot 140
BRADBURY (RAY) AND URSULA LE GUIN Series of eleven typed letters and one postcard signed, to Francisco Porrúa, his Spanish-language publisher, 1955-1986; with two from Ursula le Guin, 1973 and 1976
1 December 2021, 12:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £2,295 inc. premium
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BRADBURY (RAY) AND URSULA LE GUIN
Series of eleven typed letters and one postcard signed ("Ray Bradbury") to Francisco Porrúa, his Spanish-language translator and publisher ("Dear Senor Porrúa", "Dear Paco"), beginning by thanking him for his copy of "CRONICAS MARCIANAS" with the prologue by Borges ("...my wife speaks highly of your careful and sensitive work on this... I await publication of EL HOMBRE ILUSTRADO, happily..."), the next speaking of his father's death but pleased at the reception of the Martian Chronicles ("...Rarely have I been treated so well in my own country..."), talking of writing a screenplay of And The Rock Cried Out directed by Carol Reed, the Jean-Louis Barrault adaptation of the Martian Chronicles and visiting the set of Fahrenheit 451 directed by Truffaut, discussing the possibility of producing two of his plays in Buenos Aires ("...a startling evening, of great contrast..."), asking for the publication of hardcover editions of his works in Spain (on a letterhead depicting the Illustrated Man), sending a list of his works so they can be published in the right order, and other business matters, 13 pages, creases, marks and dust-staining, six hole punched for filing, 4to (282 x 220mm.) and postcard (112 x 164mm.), Clarkson Road and Cheviot Drive, Los Angeles, 6 November 1955 to 6 December 1986; with two letters from Ursula le Guin, thanking Porrúa and discussing in detail a translation of a work in the Hainish Cycle ("...there is a slight significance there which is lost in the change..."), giving a quote on Lem for a book cover ("...Stanislaw Lem and Jorge Luis Borges are the two living masters of the tale of irony and imagination..."), 2 pages, one an airmail letter, creased at folds, 4to (275 x 184mm. and smaller), Portland, Oregon, 10 October [19]73 and 15 September [19]76 (14)
Footnotes
'I AWAIT PUBLICATION OF EL HOMBRE ILUSTRADO, HAPPILY': Bradbury and Le Guin, two giants of science fiction and fantasy, write to their Spanish-language publisher.
The New York Times called Ray Bradbury (1920-2012) 'the writer most responsible for bringing modern science fiction into the literary mainstream' and here he discusses the publication in Spanish of some of his best-known works including The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man. The futuristic fantasy of Crónicas Marcianas was the first book published by Porrúas's Ediciones Minotauro in 1955, translated under a pseudonym ("Francisco Abelenda") by Porrúa himself and with a foreword by Jorge Luis Borges. As a child Bradbury was mesmerised by the film industry and some of that excitement is evident in these letters, speaking of his close involvement in the translation of his books such as Fahrenheit 451 and And the Rock Cried Out to the big screen ("...with Sir Carol Reed directing... I believe it is a film worth doing, considering the international situation at this time..."). The letters by Ursula le Guin (1929-2018) refer to her Hainish Cycle of novels and short stories, possibly The Left Hand of Darkness, first published in English in 1969.
Francisco Porrúa (1922-2014), literary translator and publisher, also known as Paco, founded Ediciones Minotauro in Buenos Aires in 1955, and was one of the leading publishers of science fiction and fantasy in the Spanish language, instrumental for bringing the likes of Ballard, Bradbury, Tolkien and Le Guin to a wider audience. Porrúa moved the business to Spain in the mid 1970's. His obituary in the Buenos Aires Herald wrote of 'his undeniable gift as a translator and his keen eye for extraordinary, even if unknown or too daring, literary gems', and whilst at publisher Editorial Sudamericana, he is credited with discovering Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. See also lots ........ in the present sale.
Provenance: Francisco Porrúa; thence by descent to his son.