Pessoa, Fernando | "Deus Quer, o homenm sonha, a obra nasce (God wills it, man dreams it, the work is born)"

Pessoa, Fernando

Mensagem. Lisbon: Parceria Antonio Maria Pereira, 1934

8vo (196 x 120 mm). Signed by author “Fernando Pessoa” to prelim. Publisher’s wrappers, yellow dust jacket; lightly soiled with tear of 4.2 cm at the front joint of the jacket. 

First edition, presentation copy of Mensagem, signed and inscribed: “Á Albino Forjaz de Sampaio, / Com um abraço / de / Fernando Pessoa / 8–XII–1934."

This epic poem by Portugal’s most celebrated poet after Camões is organized in three parts: “Brasão,” “Mar Português,” and “O Encoberto,” and comprises 44 short poems celebrating Portuguese history. Outside of Mensagem, Pessoa was an active contributor to various modernist publications, like A Águia and Presença (see lots 301 and 328) during his lifetime. Fame would truly materialize after Pessoa's death in 1935, a year after the publication of the present work.

REFERENCES

Stoddard 5; Blanco, Fernando Pessoa, Esboço de uma bibliografia PO 127; Rui de Sousa, Fotobibliografia de Fernando Pessoa, p. 176; Bloom, The Western Canon, pp. 3, 485–92

PROVENANCE

Albino Maria Pereira Forjaz de Sampaio