Collection of seven Havana-printed novels and collections of short stories all written by and belonging to Antonio Benítez-Rojo, 1967-1980, including some with his own editorial changes in pen. Initially aligned with the Cuban Revolutionary government, Benítez-Rojo won the Premio Casa de las Américas for the short story collection included here, Tute de Reyes, in 1967, going on to become the head of the Casa de las Américas publishing house in 1975. After receiving permission to travel to France in 1980, he subsequently fled to the United States and settled in western Massachusetts for the remainder of his life, becoming a professor of Spanish at Amherst College. His novel El Mar de las Lentejas, also included here, is considered a major work of Caribbean postmodern literature. The full collection - all first editions, various conditions, though generally well-read and worn - includes:
Tute de Reyes, Casa de las Américas, 1967
El Escudo de Hojas Secas, Unión de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, UNEAC, 1969
Heroica, Editorial Arte y Literatura, 1976
La Tierra y el Cielo, Editorial Arte y Literatura, 1978
Fruta Verda, Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1979
El Mar de las Lentejas, Editorial Letras Cubanas, 1979
El Enigma de los Esterlines, Editorial Gente Nueva, 1980
This collection comes from Benítez-Rojo's own library, and is particularly noteworthy due to the fact that, in fleeing Cuba, he left behind all his papers as well as copies of his own works. The present collection would have had to have been reassembled in exile, and is also of interest due to at least three of the works containing alterations to the text, presumably by Benítez-Rojo, editing the works long after publication. A number of the works are also quite scarce in institutional holdings, including the young adult novel El Enigma de los Esterlines, with only two copies held, both in Europe, and Fruta Verde, with five copies worldwide.
