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

• Typed letter 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 conservation, some stains without consequences.
• Single document.

English translation

Dear Dr. Son,

I am 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 that is to be held in Brazil. This little book I wrote with James Yen, the Chinese who has done 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 am sure we would have seen a very different China, or if the government had been really supportive of this work, the people of China would be in a different position than they are today.

I believe that Dr. Yen has developed a technique for Chinese that may also be useful in other countries of the world where there are large numbers of illiterates, and it is with this hope that I am sending you the book and I ask your forgiveness for any apparent presumptions.

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

My comment

I love autographed documents because, despite being old, they are still very relevant. They also allow us to discover people we never knew before. This is the case of this letter from Pearl Buck, a woman I only got to know through 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 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 struggle 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. Her works are still studied at 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, the daughters of American soldiers stationed in the Far East.

So, can you imagine how a letter from Pearl Buck is already valuable in itself? However, I liked the letter even more because of its extremely relevant content. The main subject is China, the reason for her 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 another great woman, Pearl Buck, who passed away 50 years ago (March 6, 1973). You have the opportunity to acquire and preserve a bit of her legacy before passing it on. I am increasingly convinced that women deserve more visibility and will gain more space in our macho world... Including in the small world of collectors of great autograph documents.