The Special Collections Research Center has acquired a remarkable and unique collection related to Graham Greene—the papers and library of his close friend, Father Leopoldo Durán. Durán wrote his doctoral thesis at King’s College, London, on Greene, sparking an 18-year friendship between the two men. Over a decade beginning in 1976, Durán and Greene embarked on a series of annual holidays through Spain, including retreats to Oseira Monastery, visits to the grave of Spanish philosopher Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (1864-1936) and vineyard tours. The experiences and conversations from these travels were influential in the creation of Greene’s novel Monsignor Quixote (1982).
The Leopoldo Durán papers include correspondence from Graham Greene and his family to Durán, autograph diaries kept by Durán during his travels with Greene, notecards, several hundred photographs and more. With the papers came Durán’s library of over 100 titles of Greene’s works, most of them presentation copies inscribed by Greene to Durán, and including a number of Spanish-language editions not otherwise represented in Georgetown’s collections.
A detailed description of Durán’s papers is available in DigitalGeorgetown. See the full story in the Library Associates Newsletter.