Letter signed by Pearl Buck (1949)

In 1949, Nobel Prize winner for literature, Pearl Buck, became interested in the challenges of education in Brazil.

• Letter typed and signed by Pearl Buck, to Lourenço Filho.
• One page (letter + envelope).
• In English. 18cm x 30cm.
• July 16, 1949, United States.
• Good condition, some minor stains.
• Single document.

English translation

Dear Dr Filho

I'm presumptuous enough to send you a copy of TELL THE PEOPLE. This is because I am deeply interested in the Seminar on Illiteracy and Adult Education, which will be held in Brazil. This little book I wrote with James Yen, the Chinese man who did so much for mass education in China, and if he had been able to work in a peaceful country in the last twenty-five years, I'm sure we would have seen a very different China, or if If the government were truly supportive of this work, the people of China would be in a different position than they are today.

I think that Dr. Yen has developed a technique for Chinese that can also be useful in other countries in the world where there are a large number of illiterate people and it is with this hope that I send you the book and ask your forgiveness for apparent presumptions.

With best wishes for the success of the Seminar, I am Pearl Buck

My comment

I love autograph documents because although they are often old, they are still very current. They also allow us to discover people we didn't know. This is the case with this letter from Pearl Buck, a woman I only met with this document, like many of you, I imagine.

Pearl Buck was born in the United States but grew up in China, where her parents were missionaries. She was then fluent in Chinese and English, and her first writings were in Mandarin. Pearl became known for her novel "The Good Earth", published in 1931, which tells the story of a Chinese peasant family during the Cultural Revolution.

A political and social activist, her novels and essays addressed the fight for human rights, especially for black people and women, which made her one of the first great feminists in our history, and one of the first American writers to have a significant impact on world literature. . His works are still studied in the best universities.

She won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1938, but was ignored by the conformist literary world for many years. It didn't matter. A tireless humanist, she adopted and gained the love of seven abandoned children, daughters of American soldiers stationed in the Far East.

So, can you imagine how valuable a letter from Pearl Buck is in itself? However, I liked the letter even more because of its extremely relevant content. The main subject is China, the reason for its Nobel Prize and the next greatest political and economic power. Furthermore, Buck talks about pedagogy, another very important and current subject. In fact, James Yen, who she mentions, and Lourenço Filho, the recipient of the letter, were great names in pedagogy, responsible for decisive advances in the education of the masses, one in China and the other in Brazil.

That's it. I had the pleasure of quickly introducing you to another great woman, Pearl Buck, who passed away 50 years ago (March 6, 1973). You have the opportunity to acquire and preserve a piece of your legacy before passing it on. More and more, I am convinced that women deserve more visibility and will gain more space in our sexist world... Including in the small world of collectors of great autograph documents.