Bidspirit auction | PESSOA. (Fernando) MENSAGEM. Lisbon. António

PESSOA. (Fernando) MENSAGEM. Lisbon. António Maria Pereira Partnership. 1934. 100 (4). 19,3 cm x 13,3 cm. - First edition. The only book of poetry in Portuguese published during the lifetime of Fernando Pessoa (Lisbon, 1888 – Lisbon, 1935), composed of 44 poems written over the course of 21 years, between 1913 and 1934. Published on 1 December 1934 — the anniversary of the Restoration of 1640 — by Parceria António Maria Pereira, with graphic design by the workshops of Editorial Império, in their celebrated yellow paperback covers. The work, divided into three parts — “Brasão, ” “Mar Português, ” and “O Encoberto” — revisits the mythology of Portugal’s heroic past through figures such as Ulysses, Viriatus, Prince Henry the Navigator, and King Sebastian, constructing a vision of the Fifth Empire that has established itself as a masterpiece of Portuguese poetry and of world literature. The original title was “Portugal”; Pessoa chose “Mensagem, ” a word derived from the Latin expression mens agitat molem — “the spirit moves matter” — from Virgil’s Aeneid. One month after its publication, the work was awarded the Antero de Quental Prize, in the second poetry category, by the National Propaganda Secretariat, in the first edition of its literary prizes. The second edition, published in 1941, incorporated Pessoa’s autograph corrections to a copy of the first edition, preserving the pre-1911 orthography that the poet considered an essential characteristic of the work. Good overall condition. Original wrappers with minor defects as usual; spine with losses; rear cover with recent restoration (see photographs). Text block very clean.