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The Book of Imaginary Beings (1969) Signed First Edition Reference

El libro de los seres imaginarios (expanded edition, Kier, Buenos Aires, 1967; originally Manual de zoología fantástica, 1957) is Borges and Margarita Guerrero’s bestiary of 120 imaginary creatures drawn from mythology, medieval bestiaries, Kafka, C.S. Lewis, and Borges’s own imagination. The English translation, The Book of Imaginary Beings (Dutton, 1969), translated by Norman Thomas di Giovanni in collaboration with Borges, is the standard English edition.

Signed Copy Market Values

  • Signed English first (Dutton): $200–$500
  • Unsigned English first: $40–$100

A beloved Borges miscellany — lighter than the major collections but suffused with the same erudition and imaginative play.