In Buenos Aires I met a bookseller at La Calesita book store on Avenida de Mayo. Take a tour by video.
Sr. Costanzo used to supply writer Jose Luis Borges with his books for 40 years. Arranged regular deliveries to Borges’ apartment.
We explored diverse conversational topics as Señor Costanzo pulled out crumbling old books about the history of the region. I was trying to track down the symbolism in the Argentine shield or coat of arms which in the earliest version displays brown mounds under the joined hands under the French Revolution-era cap set under a sun-face (see image of the coat of arms below).
A couple of weeks earlier 
at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires, I’d seen the hand sewn banner displayed at the mausoleum of Gen. San Martin the liberator of Argentina and Peru. But the brown mounds disappear in post-1820 versions.
at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires, I’d seen the hand sewn banner displayed at the mausoleum of Gen. San Martin the liberator of Argentina and Peru. But the brown mounds disappear in post-1820 versions.
The bookseller and I decided the lumps must represent the Andes Mountains. Indeed, it turns out that the flag displayed in the cathedral is the banner of the Army of the Andes.
Modern version of the shield of Argentina omits the brown lumps.
Adventure Travel Writer 
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