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. 18 cm x 30 cm. July 16, 1949, United States. Good condition, some minor stains. Single document.

translation from english

Dear Dr Son

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 for the last twenty-five years, I'm sure we would have seen a very different China, or if If the government were really supportive of this work, the people of China would be in a different position than they are today.

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

Best wishes for your Seminar success, I'm 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 got to know with this document, as well as 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 both 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 family of Chinese peasants during the Cultural Revolution.

Political and social activist, her novels and essays addressed the struggle for human rights, especially for blacks 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 won the love of seven abandoned children, daughters of American soldiers stationed in the Far East.

So, can you imagine how valuable a Pearl Buck letter is in itself? However, I liked the letter even more for its extremely relevant content. The main subject is China, the reason for its Nobel Prize and the next greatest political and economic power. In addition, Buck talks about pedagogy, another very important and current subject. In fact, James Yen, whom 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 briefly introducing you to yet another great woman, Pearl Buck, who passed away 50 years ago (March 6, 1973). You have the opportunity to acquire and preserve some 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... Even in the small world of collectors of large autograph documents.