Starting in the 1960s, the couple Jorge Amado and Zélia Gattai recounted their lives in letters to their friends in London.

• An exceptional collection of 54 letters, handwritten or typed, notes mainly from Jorge Amado - and his wife Zélia - to their friends Antônio and Zora Olinto. Also includes 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.
• Unique set.

Excerpts

• Jorge | I've been at my cousins' farm since the middle of last week, revisiting a story—how to classify it, I don't know… it's not for children, it's an animal story—that I wrote in Paris in 1948.
  
  
• Jorge | I'm in Salvador, where I arrived two days ago to meet a French film producer, Claire Duval, producer of, among other films, "Emmanuelle". She came to buy the film rights to "The Shepherds of the Night," which is to be directed by Marcel Camus.
  
  
• Jorge | TV Globo has started airing a telenovela adapted from "Gabriela," and it seems to me that it's been successful.
  
  
• Jorge | My work in the last month has been entirely focused on film-related things.
  
  
• Jorge | My life has become a living hell, I don't have a minute left for myself (...) I disappear from Salvador to continue my book, which is stuck on the first few pages.
  
  
• Zélia | Jorge decided to restructure the entire second part of the book. Result: from 215 pages, it went back to page 85. A huge undertaking, but it worked; the story took on a new dimension.
  
  
• Zélia | Jorge is working like crazy, tap, tap, tap, on the machine from morning till night.
  
  
• Zélia | I think it's almost finished, the story ("Tieta") is practically ready, just a few details left. If everything goes well, it will be all the rage 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 a percentage, selling the rights for next to nothing. Even without profiting from this success, we are 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 following the fame came girls of various ages and nationalities. The house was very busy during those three weeks of his stay here.
  
  
• Zélia | Bahia, on the eve of Carnival and in this holiday heat, is teeming with tourists. The order for the employees is to say that we are away, that Jorge works on a farm. Even so, there are those who don't believe it and insist.

Jorge Amado (1912-2001), the most adapted author in Brazilian cinema, theater, Carnival, and especially television with numerous successful soap operas, was one of the most famous writers in Brazilian literature. His popular work has been translated into 55 countries and 49 languages.

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

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

Afro-Brazilian culture was a constant theme, given Olinto and Zora's interest in the subject; another prominent theme was the intense harassment Jorge Amado suffered, often forcing him to leave Bahia accompanied by Zélia to find some peace in London, the capital where Olinto resided with his wife; among other topics discussed by Amado and Zélia were news about the Candomblé religions of Bahia, Jorge's writing process, books published by their friends (Olinto and Zora were prolific writers), trips they made to Italy and France, the daily life of their Bahia home, always full of visitors – including other celebrities – and their business dealings with television and film.

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