Book Day: Why Is It Celebrated Today And How To Celebrate It

It is destiny, fortuitous, that two founders of literature, Anglo-Saxon and Spanish, as Shakespeare and Cervantes, died the same day. He also wanted one of the first great writers born on this continent, Inca Garcilaso of the Vega, gave his last breath on this date: April 23, 1616.

And he wanted – several centuries later – that a Spanish bookseller, Vicent Clavel Andrés, will use all its resources, economic and political, so that the Official Chamber of the Book of Barcelona approves the celebration of the Day of the book. And he did it, in 1926.

Undoubtedly, chance, chance and fate have allowed Unesco, in 1995, to consider the date on which a decree should be issued. International Book and Copyright Day.

Beyond the date, the actual date of death of the three authors is not entirely accurate: Cervantes died on April 22, but at that time, in the sixteenth century, the custom dictated that the date of death should be written on the book. The day of the burial, which was the 23. In fact, in the historical record of the book of the deceased of the Madrilenian church of San Sebastian and appears.

For its part, the bard actually died on April 23, although on the Julian calendar, so its date – adjusted to the Gregorian calendar used today in most countries – would have been May 3. For its part, the departure of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, born in Cusco (Peru), is still controversial since, according to the historian consulted, it would have occurred on April 22, 23 or 24, 1616.

Of course, what is irrefutable is that, as early as 1930, the date of the celebration started in Catalonia with the help of Clavel Andrés and extended to the whole planet was set for April 23, in honor of author of The ingenious gentleman Don Quixote de la Mancha they then discovered that he was sharing the day with Shakespeare.

Activities for the day of the book

Underground Buenos Aires and the General Directorate of Books, Libraries and Reading Promotion invite the Leaving books to be held today at 15:30 and 17:00 respectively at Plaza Italia and Juramento stations. Thus, Line D users can choose any of the 600 titles of clbadical and contemporary literature available, with such authors as Héctor Tizón, Virginia Woolf, Silvina Ocampo, Eduardo Sacheri, Norma Huidobro and Liliana Bodoc, among others . .

In addition,We will distribute free tickets for the 45th edition of the Buenos Aires International Book Fair, which begins on April 25 and ends on May 13. This "Suelta" marks the beginning of the literary marathon to be held in the city from April 23rd to May 23rd.

On the other hand, the National Library Mariano Moreno inaugurates the exhibition The books of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. For the first time, the public will be able to see part of the creator's personal library Sherlock Holmes, with copies containing notes from the author's writing. With free admission to 19 years in the rooms Silvina Ocampo and Adolfo Bioy Casares.

You can also know the personal library of Adolfo Bioy Casares and Silvina Ocampo. It consists of 10 lots of 33 boxes each, with a total of about 17,000 copies. In the collection you will find some original editions of Jorge Luis Borges, with handwritten corrections by the author, as well as dedications from writers such as Gabriel García Márquez, Alejandra Pizarnik, Norah Lange and Oliverio Girondo.