Typewritten letter signed by Monteiro Lobato (1935)
Typewritten letter signed by Monteiro Lobato (1935)
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Comes with Certificate of Authenticity and Digital Warranty ©
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This item is no longer available. However, we may be able to put you in touch with its owner – who knows, they might accept your offer? – or, alternatively, suggest other items of similar interest, with no obligation. Contact us via WhatsApp: +55 31 98221-5758 or email: contato@glorias.com.br
In 1935, Monteiro Lobato embarks once again on a quest for oil.
- Typed letter signed by Monteiro Lobato to Manoel Ganisto.
- One page.
- In Portuguese.
- 22 cm x 28.5 cm.
- February 10, 1935, São Paulo.
- With three photographs of an oil well, each 11 cm x 6.5 cm.
- Excellent condition.
- Unique set.
Excerpts from the letter
(...) My dear friend, I am a literary failure. I always concerned myself with letters incidentally, although in essence, I was nothing more than a litterateur. I had my violons d'Ingres, and several. A thousand businesses, industries, the devil. Several failures. In New York, I decided to become a millionaire by force and ruined myself on the stock market. Now I am trying again for the "big hit," and this time with oil. I formed the Cia Petroleos do Petroleo and am drilling. We have a magnificent well already 1100 meters deep, and full of hope of striking a large formation of the precious liquid that governs the world. I include in this some photos of our rig or the Araquá Oilfield, as we call it.
The tremendous underground battle that oil exploration entails (a battle against the plague of Standard Oil) absorbs all my time and activity. I have no time left for literature, nor for reading. I am becoming illiterate, what a delight.
I greatly admire your constancy, my friend, of always staying in the same field, cultivating the spirit affectionately and following from afar the literary activity of this South American backwater. What patience and what useless work! We are still a big zero in the world and will be for a long time yet because Brazilians suffer from a very serious illness. Imagine that Brazilians don't think with their brains. They think with some other organ in the body that I haven't discovered yet. The nonsense we do through what we call the Government has led me to believe that it's impossible that we think with our brains. Is it with our heels? Is it with our testicles? That is the problem. (...)
Lobato is practically the founder of modern Brazilian children's literature. He managed to enchant generations of children and adults with a very simple language. His works, especially the 23 volumes of "Sítio do Pica Pau Amarelo" (Yellow Woodpecker Farm), are part of Brazilian culture and are internationally known, with translations even in China.
However, we cannot talk about Monteiro Lobato without remembering his political engagement and the controversial issues he was involved in, particularly oil. Exactly 80 years ago, Brazil discovered its first oil well, in Salvador (Bahia). Having lost his grandfather's inheritance and his publishing house, he invested in oil research and prospecting, both to establish himself as an entrepreneur and to give Brazil the opportunity to develop more quickly and independently.
Publicly criticizing the association between the Brazilian government and the American oil company Standard Oil, he urged President Getúlio Vargas to prioritize the interests of the Brazilian state. This battle led to the writer's imprisonment from January to June 1941.
Ironic, critical, controversial... This impactful letter and these never-before-seen photographs, recently found in France, show how well-informed the writer was, an intellectual with strong convictions and an audacious businessman, especially when it came to oil. A very important piece for those who love Brazilian literature and history, or simply admire one of Brazil's greatest writers.

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