Lello Bookstore buys 49 rare books and manuscripts and breaks its sales record of 1800 books sold per day

Lello Bookstore purchased 49 rare books by national authors and breaks its own sales record of 1800 books sold per day. The famous bookstore bought 49 books, nine letters and 28 manuscripts postcards by renowned Portuguese authors in an auction.

Some of these assets will go for sale, whilst some will enrich the bookstore's legacy of rare and luxury editions, namely the a copy of the book "Encyclopedia of wit", from the personal library of Fernando Pessoa, with a dedication to Álvaro de Campos from his friend Alberto.

Also, there are six letters and 27 postcards by Matilde Rosa Araújo written between 1975 and 2004; three letters and a postcard by Cesariny written between 1962 and 1979; a first edition of the "Mensagem" by Pessoa, from 1934 and a curious fact that the book is accompanied by the purchase invoice, which dates from 26 January 1935 and the book costed 10 escudos.

Lello also acquired four books by Portuguese Nobel laureate José Saramago, which are signed by the author, including "Deste mundo e do outro", "História do Cerco de Lisboa", "Todos os nomes'' and "Ensaio sobre a cegueira"; and a first edition of the play "Deseja-se mulher", by Almada Negreiros, also signed by the author.

"In the past two years, Lello Bookstore is aimed at raising a relevant literary legacy of national authors as well as purchasing rare editions as an economic and cultural investment for the future. This is important as it means we have a bibliophile segment for specialized buyers", Lello officials affirmed.

For that reason, the Sala Gemma (a new space within Lello) was created to host rare editions, in a place that has this long lasting and rich heritage.

Also noteworthy is the fact that Lello is the street bookstore that sells more books, both by national and foreign authors in Portugal, circa 1800 per day.