Letter signed by Monteiro Lobato (1944)

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The forerunner of children's literature in Brazil, Monteiro Lobato, speaks of Donkey Velho and jail.

Letter signed by Monteiro Lobato to Souza Filho. One page. In Portuguese. 20.5 cm x 28 cm. São Paulo, January 20, 1944. Good condition. Single piece.

In 1940, Monteiro Lobato, in the middle of the dictatorship, wrote a letter to President Getúlio Vargas in which he addresses the issue of oil in Brazil and argues that the National Petroleum Council is delaying "the creation of the great oil industry in Brazil, to serve, the only and exclusively, the interests of the Standard-Royal Dutch Trust" . Documents, reports and witnesses resulted in a lawsuit and Lobato's arrest.

Regarding his arrest, he commented: “I am as I wanted, reaping what I sowed. The cause of oil gains much more from my arrest than from the talkative comfort in the office”.

This letter ends, 3 years later, the prison episode at the Tiradentes Prison, from March to June 1941, by highlighting Monteiro Lobato's satisfaction with the praise given by the recipient to his sincerity. He also writes that, by being too sincere, the risk is jail. As a pearl, we still find self-praise in reverse: old donkey.