Handwritten letter from Machado de Assis (1892)

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

Handwritten letter signed by Machado de Assis when he worked at the "Secretariat d'Estado dos Negócios da Agricultura, Commercio e Obras Publicas". One page. In Portuguese. 23 cm x 35 cm. Rio de Janeiro, March 22, 1892. Page slightly torn in the middle, can be restored by a professional. Single 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, reviews and chronicles of great 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, thus awakening worldwide interest. Machado de Assis can be compared with the French Flaubert or the Russian Dostoievski, 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 rendered to the State.

According to Pedro Correa do Lago, in his book entitled "Documentos Autografos Brasileiros":

His letters, which were once abundant in the market, are now much sought after by collectors of Brazilian literature and a large part of them can be found in public institutions or at the Academia Brasileira de Letras.

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 signed only Machado De Assis, even during his many years at the Ministry of Industry, where he wrote down thousands of documents, of which very few escaped destruction.