WASHINGTON (AFP).- The University of Texas said Monday it has bought Nobel-winning novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez's manuscript for his masterpiece "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and a trove of other papers.

A half-century of the acclaimed writer's original manuscripts and personal papers, mostly in Spanish, are among the documents in the newly-acquired archives, which are to be housed at the university's Harry Ransom Center.

Born in Colombia, Garcia Marquez died in Mexico City in April at the age of 87.

The Colombian government voiced disappointment that the papers would not stay in the author's home country.

Colombian Culture Minister Mariana Garces said in Bogota that the government had been in contact with the author's family following his April 17 death "to express our interest in that work."

"If they had made a request indicating that there was interest in selling, of course the resources would have been found to acquire it," Garces said.

Her ministry issued a statement saying: "the government regrets that the papers will not be at home in Colombia, but respects the family's decision."

The site that will house his papers at the University of Texas in the state capital Austin, is home to a humanities research center, a museum and a library.

Officials there said they plan to hold a symposium next year on Garcia Marquez's influence in the world of letters, timed to coincide with the collection being made available to researchers.

"Garcia Marquez is a giant of 20th century literature whose work brims with originality and wisdom," university president Bill Powers said in a statement.

"The University of Texas at Austin -- with expertise in both Latin America and the preservation and study of the writing process -- is the natural home for this very important collection."

Powers did not say how much the center paid to obtain the collection, which includes more than 2,000 Garcia Marquez letters.

The trove of documents includes drafts of his 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature acceptance speech and more than 40 photograph albums documenting all aspects of his life.

Among the correspondence are letters from legendary writers Carlos Fuentes, Graham Greene, James Joyce and William Faulkner, university official said.


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