Handwritten letter from Empress Teresa Cristina (1887)

A year before the Proclamation of the Republic, Dom Pedro II is ill and the imperial couple rests in a house lent by longtime friends.

• Handwritten letter from Empress Teresa Cristina to the Viscountess of Ubá (Mariana Velho de Avellar).
• One sheet, one page.
• Petrópolis, April 9, 1887.
• 13 cm x 25 cm.
• Excellent condition.
• Unique piece.

Petropolis 9 April 1887

Dear Marianasinha,

The Emperor and I came to thank you for the good welcome we received from your daughters in your home, and to tell you that we were sorry we did not have the pleasure of seeing you here with your husband.

The Emperor has improved greatly with his stay here, and I hope that the air of Águas Claras will restore him to everything. Her daughter Mariquinhas is going with us on this trip because of the health of D. Josefina, who is ill. Your daughter is so good to me.

Goodbye, our regards to the Viscount and receive a hug from your friend.

Theresa

In April 1887, the Imperial couple are enjoying the home of Mariana Velho de Avellar, the Viscountess of Ubá, daughter of the butler of the Imperial Palace and the maid of honor of Empress Teresa Cristina. The Ribeiro de Avellar family was a successful owner of land, coffee plantations and slaves in the Paraíba Valley of Rio de Janeiro and the summer house they owned in Petrópolis was the borrowed place where Princesses Isabel and Leopoldina spent their honeymoon.

This letter from Teresa Cristina, written in Petrópolis, seems very unique and moving to me as I witness the old age of the imperial couple, their last months in Brazil, shortly before the Proclamation of the Republic and their exile.