The Cosmoramas of Inês

Abstract

On February 11, 1912, Oswald de Andrade boarded the ship Martha Washington in Santos to, for the first time, cross the Atlantic Ocean on his way to Europe. The distance prompted an exchange of letters between Oswald and his parents, Inês Henriqueta and José Oswald, who were in São Paulo. This correspondence is in the Oswald de Andrade Fund under the custody of the Alexandre Eulálio Documentation Center (CEDAE), at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp). In this article, we publish for the first time one of the documents that make up this collection, the letter dated April 22, 1912, addressed to “Seu Oswaldinho” and signed as “Recado de Dona Inês” (message from Dona Inês). It is a precious document because its content indicates the importance of constructing appearance in a broad dimension, encompassing consumption habits (what was consumed, and how) and the constitution of a modern taste.