Gabriel García Márquez passed away on April 17^th 2014 at the age of 87. He was unquestionably Colombia’s greatest writer – his country’s president even described him after his death as “the greatest Colombian who ever lived” – and one of the most important of all Spanish language (and indeed world) authors. His influence and importance on the Latin American and world stage cannot be overstated, nor the full scope of his work easily summarised. Suffice to say, however, that Cambridge University Library has extensive holdings relating to García Márquez: we currently hold 129 titles written by him (including translations in various languages) and 185 books about him and his work (also in many different languages). The library began seriously acquiring titles by and about García Márquez in the late 1960s, following the huge international success of what remains his most famous novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Amongst these initial acquisitions are a few first editions of his early works (pictured below), namely La Hojarasca (Leaf Storm, classmark 9743.d.388), La mala hora (In Evil Hour, classmark 9743.d.506 ) and Los funerals de la Mamá Grande (Big Mama’s Funeral, classmark 9743.d.372). Without doubt, the influence and popularity of Gabriel Gárcia Márquez, as well as scholarship of his work, will continue to grow with his passing.

Christopher Greenberg