[3] The brothers were born to a property-owner in Villa Ramadas (Fontes), in the municipality of Santa Marta de Penaguião: both became prominent members of Porto's intellectual bourgeoisie by the turn of the century.

[3] These purchases later included the 7 April 1898 sale of the firm Livraria Lemos & Co.[3] The brothers hired engineer Francisco Xavier Esteves (1864-1944) to construct the new bookstore on Rua das Carmelitas.

[3] The IPPAR consultative council favoured its establishment as a Imóvel de Interesse Público (Property of Public Interest) pm 24 March 1994.

[3] The Secretary-of-State for Culture solicited a presentation on 14 March 201 to establish a special protection zone (ZEP) the site, which was supplemented by the DRCNorte (on 12 April).

[3] On 21 April 2016, an artistic mural was erected to conceal the scaffolding placed on the facade of the building, during its restoration, by graffiti writer Dheo and colleague Pariz One.

[3] In 2022, a collection of touching and sometimes prescient personal letters written by a young Bob Dylan to a high school girlfriend has been sold at auction to Lello bookshop for nearly $670,000.

[6] The bookstore is flanked by shops and fronts the Praça de Lisboa, near to the Porto University Faculty of Sciences building, the tower and Clérigos Church.

[3] Above this arch are three elongated rectangular windows flanked by two painted figures representing "Art" and "Science" (work of Professor Jose Bielman).