Handwritten letter from Machado de Assis (1892)

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Very rare complete signature of the literary genius, Machado de Assis, when he worked at the Ministry of Agriculture.

• Handwritten letter signed by Machado de Assis when he worked at the "Secretariat of State for the Business of Agriculture, Commerce and Public Works".
• One page.
• In Portuguese.
• 23 cm x 35 cm.
• Rio de Janeiro, March 22, 1892.
• Leaf slightly torn in the middle, can be restored by a professional.
• Unique piece.

It was not possible to decipher the entire text but, underneath, the author's signature is very clear:

The director

Jm. M. Machado De Assis.

Machado de Assis (1839 - 1908) was one of the most important names in Brazilian literature. Founder and first president of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, he was a complete author. He wrote novels, short stories, poetry, plays, criticism and chronicles of high quality.

The fact that he wrote in Portuguese made it difficult for the author to gain international recognition. However, since the end of the 20th century, his works have been translated into English, French, Spanish and German, arousing worldwide interest. Machado de Assis can be compared with the Frenchman Flaubert or the Russian Dostoievsky, two authors who lived at the same time as him.

In 1892, when he wrote this letter, Machado de Assis was already an Officer of the Order of the Rose, by imperial decree, due to his services to the State.

According to Pedro Correa do Lago, in his book called "Brazilian Autograph Documents":

His letters, which were once abundant on the market, are now highly sought after by collectors of Brazilian literature and a large part of them can be found in public institutions or at the Brazilian Academy of Letters.

His complete signature (Jm. M. Machado De Assis by Joaquim Maria Machado De Assis) is very rare and is only found in contracts with publishers, as he only signed Machado De Assis, even during his many years at the Ministry of Industry, where he wrote down thousands of documents, very few of which escaped destruction.