COVER N. 721 - BRASIL

Postmark: AC Central de S. Paulo 12.05.2026

Posted on the  12th May;  Received on the 27th May 2026

_________________________________________________________________________________

The second letter I got from Brasil on the same  week bore the trademark of Luis, with whom I've been exchanging mail for quite sometime now:  a perfectly made envelope  using recycled paper, which I find is quite a fine and intelligent way of using paper that otherwise would end up in the bin. Muito Obrigado, Luis. Resposta em breve, como habitualmente.

- Ginásio Pernambucano is the oldest school in Brazil, having been functioning uninterruptedly since 1825, that is 200 years ago.

First located at Convento do Carmo, (Carmo Convent) in Recife, a Carmelite run convent, it occupied several facilities until finally being established in a purpose built building where it has been functioning since 1866, still in the city of Recife, the capital city of the State of Pernambuco.

Celebrating its 200th anniversary, Correios do Brasil issued a 3,7 Reais stamp on 01DEC2025, illustrated with an image of the building and the official logo of the institution.

- Think "Garota de Ipanema", the immortal song authored by Tom Jobim and Vinicius de Morais with a beat that in its essence is a watered down samba and there is Bossa Nova for you, the genre that became so popular in the 60s that it transcended frontiers with stars like Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald including it in their repertoire.

On 22NOV2025, Correios do Brasil issued a 3,70 Reais stamp celebrating this relevant musical genre, the stamp design clearly highlighting its Carioca origins trough the inclusion of the two main hills that dominate Rio de Janeiro's landscape, - the Pão de Açucar and the Corcovado -  over a shinning sun (summer for all) and a guitar in the foreground, the instrument that was at the forefront of Bossa Nova's creation.

Brasil's Biblioteca Postal (Postal Library) which is integrated into the country's Postal Museum was created in Rio de Janeiro in 1888, but is now located in Brasilia, since 1980.

Celebrating the 130th anniversary of the institution, a 1,55 Reais stamp was issued on 04May2018, illustrated with symbols of postal activity, like letterboxes, envelopes, postmark, rubber stamp…

As usual with Luis' letters, the postmark hails from São Paulo's central Post Office.