35 Sonnets.
Very rare first edition of one of Fernando Pessoa’s first books.
A very rare and attractive wide-margined untrimmed copy kept in its original wrappers.
In-8 de (20) pp.
Broché, couvertures imprimées d’origine.
205 X 135 mm.
Pessoa, Fernando. 35 sonnets.
Monteiro and Co, Lisbon, 1918.
Very rare first edition of one of Fernando Pessoa’s first books.
Très rare édition originale de l’un des premiers ouvrages de Fernando Pessoa, l’un des plus grands poètes du XXe siècle.
"He wrote his 35 Sonnets, exceptionally, in English. Pessoa was an occultist and his spiritualism and interest in mediumship permeates the sonnets, which often narrate a kind of paralysis, an agonizing suspension ‘between’ action and inaction, flesh and spirit, language and the incommunicable, or truth and the material world" (Victoria Camblin, www.otdac.org).
Pessoa published only four books during his lifetime: Antinoüs and 35 Sonnets in 1918, English Poems in 1921, and Mensagem in 1934. With the exception of Mensagem, all are extremely rare.
Fernando Pessoa has always been considered one of the best Portuguese poets, but we should not forget that he started his poetic career as an English poet and this astonishing bilingualism throws a new light on one of the greatest poets of our century. Not only did Pessoa write both in English and Portuguese throughout his life, but he always kept in his heart the secret wish to publish his poems written on English and to be considered an English author. That Portuguese “gentleman” who went on reading English books more than anyone else in Portugal, published his first poems in English, in 1918. Those 35 sonnets are remarkable for their close imitation of the Elizabethan style and manner” (Anne Terlinden).
Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) apprit l’anglais dans son enfance, à Durban (Afrique du Sud), où il passa une partie de son adolescence. Cette plaquette tirée à compte d’auteur et à petit nombre, imprimée en pleine effervescence futuriste, se compose de trente-cinq sonnets de stricte obédience shakespearienne. Mince gerbe poétique publiée par un écrivain portugais qui fut avant tout anglophone et anglophile, les 35 sonnets occupent une place à part dans l’œuvre de Fernando Pessoa.
Pessoa avait composé des poèmes en anglais dès son adolescence sous le pseudonyme d’Alexander Search, mais c’est dans les 35 sonnets que son « double » britannique atteint la maturité.
« Au cours de sa vie, Pessoa n'a publié que quatre plaquettes, dont trois en anglais : 35 Sonnets (1918), English Poems I-II et English Poems III (1921) et une en portugais : Mensagen (1934) » (M.J. De Lancastre).
Rare et précieux exemplaire conservé broché, tel que paru, condition très rare et recherchée.
A very rare and attractive wide-margined untrimmed copy kept in its original wrappers, as issued.
