(BRAZIL) William F Hall Letter of an American businessman de

Sale 2646 - Lot 304

Price Realized: $ 812

?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900

(BRAZIL.) William F. Hall. Letter of an American businessman describing life in Bahia. Autograph Letter Signed to his parents. 6 pages, 10 3/4 x 8 1/2 inches, on 2 sheets; folds, minor wear. Bahia, 8 June 1864

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A long letter describing his experiences in Bahia (the city of Salvador?) in detail. "For living this place is ahead of Pernambuco, & consequently for a stranger is pleasanter. . . . There is a great business done here by the Blacks, carrying persons from one part of the city to another in cadeiras (which means chairs). The chair is on an oval platform, covered top, a drapery all around. . . . Two Blacks carry you along. I have been carried in this way . . . nearly three miles without their setting me down to rest themselves, up hills & all."

Describes a visit to the inland town of Nazaré, attending a grand ball, where "the gentlemen(?) were principally engaged in gambling, which was going on in an ante-room. . . . Gambling is carried to an enormous extent in this country. . . . I never saw diamonds laid on so thick. The ladies fairly sparkled with them."

"As the Am'n consul here says, Brazil is a paradise--for niggers. 'Pussons ob color' predominate in this country. . . . a Negro is as good as a white man here, & better too, if he has got money, & a great many have. Of course there are a great many slaves in this country."

"As to ice business in this country, there is no chance for it. They make ice here & at Pernambuco & that scarcely pays. The Brazilians do not care for ice, they think it is unhealthy."

Provenance: Swann sale, 27 January 1944, lot 9, part of a large group lot of "American Diaries and Letters" sold for $6.50 (see original purchaser's notes).