Even after many days of being known, the news that the legacy of Jorge Luis Borges has an uncertain destiny, surprises the cultural world. Readers, editors and specialists in the writer’s work continue to wonder why someone as conscientious as Mary Kodama Despite the value of that legacy, he does not seem to have taken the necessary precautions so that it was appropriately managed after his death.
This happened last March 26 and a week later, his lawyer and agent in life, Fernando Sotoannounced the news that it had not been found a formal will. For this reason, he filed a request to open the succession of the writer, in order to preserve the assets that belonged to him. Immediately, in front of the same court, another letter reported that there were five nephews of Borges’s widowsons of his only brother, in a position to claim the inheritance.
This story is just beginning and no one is quite sure how it will end. What is at stake is not the incalculable fortune of a great businessman, nor even the extraordinary royalties of very popular authors like Stephen King or JK Rowling. This is the intangible heritage of one of the most important writers of the 20th century, the third most translated into Spanish and, at this point, an undisputed classic as great as geniuses such as Franz Kafka, Fernando Pessoa, Marcel Proust and James Joyce.
Values. “Incalculable” is the adjective that specialists repeat over and over again when talking about the Borges estate that María Kodama inherited and zealously administered throughout her life. And it is the secrecy with which the widow managed the writer’s estate that makes it difficult to calculate the total amount of his estate.
Although much of the most valuable assets are located at the headquarters of the Jorge Luis Borges International Foundation, the institution does not own the treasures it houses: everything on display in it belonged to María Kodama.
Dozens of awards received throughout Borges’s life, his personal furniture, his canes and his paintings are in the Foundation and are part of the legacy.
“The most valuable thing the Foundation has is the Borges library,” he explains Germán Álvarez, director together with Laura Rosato of the Jorge Luis Borges Center for Studies and Documentation, which belongs to the National Library. “We had the opportunity to see the library that is there and it is wonderful. In principle, probably, it is the most important Anglo-Saxon in South America. It does not have as many volumes as that of Adolfo Bioy Casares (around 17,000). Borges’s never exceeded 3,000 or 4,000 copies. The number fluctuated because he gave away many books. And he never stopped buying them, even when he was already blind.”
The main value of this library is related to the type of work of Borges and his writing, so closely linked to his reading. “Borges is, first, a reader and then a writer. His writings are about reading. That is why his library is mythical. It is priceless, it is exceptional. And something very important that it contains are encyclopedias. Borges had a peculiar way of reading encyclopedias”, explains Álvarez.
Its value is also “incalculable” because there are great collectors of Borges’ work and objects, who would pay a fortune for this library. Something similar happens with his manuscripts which, for example, in the case of the original by “Pierre Menard”, have reached a price of half a million dollars.
“The Foundation owns two manuscripts that María bought from the bookseller and collector Víctor Aizenman -explains Álvarez-. When she consolidates her relationship with Borges, he had already donated a large part of her manuscripts. From very early on, Borges knows that they have a commercial value. And he gave them away out of affection or personal deference. When María started the Foundation, she bought the manuscript of ‘The circular ruins’, which was her favorite story. Precisely, the Foundation is in the house next to the one where the writer wrote the story”.
According to Borges’ testimony, he wrote “Las ruinas circulares” in a whole night, in one go, something that had never happened to him before. He changed the text a lot between the first and the last version. “The other manuscript that María buys for the Foundation is ‘Coleridge’s Dream’, this one is highly corrected. But both have something in common and that is that they have drawings. Borges drew very well. In ‘The circular ruins’ he drew a labyrinth, in the style of Piranesi”, explains Álvarez.
A few years ago, Kodama found in his apartment on Rodríguez Peña street, an unpublished by the writer, not written in his handwriting but dictated, because he was already blind. Like that find, it is speculated that there may be many others in the widow’s home, so a thorough analysis of the properties may reveal more treasures within this legacy full of surprises.
Rights. The specific assets of this inheritance and with an easily determinable economic value are four, according to Fernando Soto’s statement in the brief that he presented to the court. Two apartments, both houses of María Kodama, on Rodríguez Peña street; another building on French street and the house that is the headquarters of the Foundation, in Anchorena 1660. According to that same letter, she would also have been a tenant of two properties in Geneva and Paris, whose content would be included in the legacy.
But the most complex chapter of this unusual inheritance is constituted by the copyright of Borges’ work, made up of short stories, poetry and essays.
“Argentine justice usually treats a writer’s inheritance like any succession,” explains Guillermo Schavelzon, one of the most important literary agents in Argentina. And there is a huge difference between someone who receives a legacy of intellectual property and someone who receives real estate. You can paint an apartment, sell it and receive an economic benefit without further ado. An intangible asset, such as copyright, is very different. The problem is that the heirs have to manage what they receive for life. And that management is very complex”.
The rights to Borges’s work are currently managed by the literary agent Andrew Wylie, according to Schavelzon, very effectively; but he does not make crucial decisions for the work that he must consider the owner of the rights.
“What happens if unpublished materials appear? Who decides if they are published or not? Who determines if what corresponds is to sell to the publisher that pays more or to the one that is going to do the best job of diffusion? The problem with the heirs is that they receive a work that requires certain knowledge. For example, if they decide to remove the dedication from the books or change a text, no one can challenge them. Also the one who inherits can assign the complete intellectual property rights. Is it okay for collections and rights to be freely sold to any country? Shouldn’t they protect themselves so that they remain in Argentina? Judges generally do not have all these considerations and the heir is the one who decides. The reality is that when a writer dies, things happen that no one imagines could happen ”, concludes Schavelzon.
The big question is what the state should do so that rights, texts and objects that belonged to Borges are not sold outside the country. And the great uncertainty is who will make the final decisions in relation to this heritage. It is to be hoped that this inheritance will have fewer complications than others, such as that of Adolfo Bioy Casares, which even today prevent us from having full access to the writer’s work.
When the value of a heritage is symbolic and shared by a community, whoever has the power to manage it should decide based on the greatest benefit for all.
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