From the 1960s onwards, the couple Jorge Amado and Zélia Gattai told their lives in letters to their friends in London.

• Exceptional set of 54 letters, handwritten or typed, notes mainly by Jorge Amado - and his wife Zélia - to the couple of friends Antônio and Zora Olinto. Also 8 envelopes.
• In Portuguese.
• Various sizes.
• Paris, London, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro and Bahia. Years 1965 (1), 1975 (12), 1976 (9), 1977 (6), 1978 (5), 1979 (1), 1983 (2), 1984 (3), 1985 (5), 1988 (2), 1991 (1) + no dates (7).
• Excellent condition.
• Single set.

Excerpts

• Jorge | I've been at my cousins' farm since the middle of last week, reviewing a story - I don't know how to classify it... it's not for children, it's a story about animals - that I wrote in Paris in 1948.
  
  
• Jorge | I am in Salvador, where I arrived two days ago to meet with a French film producer, Claire Duval, producer of “Emmanuelle” among other films. She came to buy the film rights to “The Shepherds of the Night”, which is to be directed by Marcel Camus.
  
  
• Jorge | TV Globo began broadcasting a soap opera adapted from “Gabriela”, which I think was a success.
  
  
• Jorge | My work in the last month has been all focused on cinema stuff.
  
  
• Jorge | My life has become hell, I don't have a minute to myself (...) I disappear from Salvador to continue my book, stopped at the first few pages.
  
  
• Zélia | Jorge decided to restructure the entire second part of the book. Result: of the 215 pages, he went back to page 85. It was a huge task, but it worked, the story took on another dimension.
  
  
• Zélia | Jorge is working like crazy, knock, knock, knock, on the machine from morning to night.
  
  
• Zélia | I don't think there's much left, the story ("Tieta") is practically ready, except for a few details. If everything goes well, it will be the talk of the town in April.
  
  
• Zélia | The film “Dona Flor” is a huge box office success (...) It’s a shame that Jorge didn’t believe in national cinema and gave up his percentages, selling the rights for four cents. Even though we didn’t make any profits from this success, we’re happy, we think the film is honest and enjoyable to watch.
  
  
• Zélia | We've had a full house (...). First it was Georges Moustaki who is never alone. (...) And behind the fame came girls of various ages and nationalities. The house was very busy during the three weeks he was here.
  
  
• Zélia | Bahia, on the eve of Carnival and in this holiday heat, is teeming with tourists. The order given to the employees is to say that we are away, that Jorge works on a farm. Even so, there are those who do not believe us and who insist.

The author most adapted for film, theater, Carnival and, above all, on Brazilian television with numerous successful soap operas, Jorge Amado (1912 - 2001) was one of the most famous writers in Brazilian literature. Popular, his work has been translated into 55 countries and 49 languages.

A great admirer of Jorge Amado's work, Zélia (1916 - 2008) began working with Jorge Amado in 1945 in the movement for amnesty for political prisoners. Shortly after, the two writers got married and Zélia decided to help her husband by reviewing and typing his original manuscripts. They lived in Rio de Janeiro, Paris and Czechoslovakia, where Zélia began the project of photographing Jorge, allowing a record of all the key events in the writer's life. Finally, they moved to Salvador, Bahia, his hometown.

Antonio Olinto and Zora Seljan were among Jorge Amado and Zélia Gattai's closest friends. In between visits, the two couples corresponded intensely.

Afro-Brazilian culture was a constant theme, given the interest that Olinto and Zora had in the subject; one of the other prominent themes was the intense harassment suffered by Jorge Amado, who was often forced to leave Bahia accompanied by Zélia to have some peace and quiet in London, the capital where Olinto lived with his wife; among the other subjects discussed by Amado and Zélia, there was also news about the Candomblés of Bahia, Jorge's writing process, the books published by their friends (Olinto and Zora were prolific writers), trips they took to Italy and France, the daily life of the house in Bahia, always full of visitors - including from other celebrities - and the business relationships with television and cinema.

Here we have an exceptional collection covering three decades of the life and career of Jorge and Zélia Amado. Photos available on request.