# Is "Mensagem" by Fernando Pessoa a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Mensagem by Fernando Pessoa (Parceria António Maria Pereira, Lisbon, 1934) is identified by: The true first is Lisbon, Parceria António Maria Pereira, 1934: octavo (approximately 19.3 x 13.3 cm), collating 100, [2] pp., issued in the publisher's plain yellow printed wrappers, and containing the 44 poems. Portuguese is the original language and the Lisbon 1934 Parceria edition is the true and only first — this is the sole full-length Portuguese book Pessoa published in his lifetime, and it took the Antero de Quental prize in the year of issue.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is Lisbon, Parceria António Maria Pereira, 1934: octavo (approximately 19.3 x 13.3 cm), collating 100, [2] pp., issued in the publisher's plain yellow printed wrappers, and containing the 44 poems
- The Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal's copy (shelfmark RES-4431-P) collates 100, [2] pp. and confirms the Parceria A. M. Pereira imprint
- The production point is the colophon: the sheets were composed and printed in the Editorial Império workshops in October 1934, and the book was issued at the beginning of December 1934 — an authorial presentation inscription dated 8-XII-1934 is recorded on a surviving copy
- Standard references cited by specialist dealers are Stoddard 5, Blanco PO 127, and Rui de Sousa (photobibliography) 176
- A print run of about 600 copies is reported by Portuguese secondary sources but is not independently corroborated here and should not be relied on as a point
- Publisher imprint reads Parceria António Maria Pereira, Lisbon
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Fernando Pessoa |
| Publisher | Parceria António Maria Pereira, Lisbon |
| Year | 1934 |
| True first | UK edition |
| Format | Poetry |
| Key point | The true first is Lisbon, Parceria António Maria Pereira, 1934: octavo (approximately 19.3 x 13.3 cm), collating 100, [2] pp., issued in… |
| Book-club edition exists? | No |

## Points of issue
The true first is Lisbon, Parceria António Maria Pereira, 1934: octavo (approximately 19.3 x 13.3 cm), collating 100, [2] pp., issued in the publisher's plain yellow printed wrappers, and containing the 44 poems. The Biblioteca Nacional de Portugal's copy (shelfmark RES-4431-P) collates 100, [2] pp. and confirms the Parceria A. M. Pereira imprint. The production point is the colophon: the sheets were composed and printed in the Editorial Império workshops in October 1934, and the book was issued at the beginning of December 1934 — an authorial presentation inscription dated 8-XII-1934 is recorded on a surviving copy. Standard references cited by specialist dealers are Stoddard 5, Blanco PO 127, and Rui de Sousa (photobibliography) 176. A print run of about 600 copies is reported by Portuguese secondary sources but is not independently corroborated here and should not be relied on as a point.

## Is this the true first?
Portuguese is the original language and the Lisbon 1934 Parceria edition is the true and only first — this is the sole full-length Portuguese book Pessoa published in his lifetime, and it took the Antero de Quental prize in the year of issue. There is no UK or US edition of the period and therefore no precedence contest; English versions under the title 'Message' are much later translations. Only the Lisbon 1934 sheets are collected as the first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
No book-club edition is documented. The traps are later Portuguese trade editions under other imprints and modern collector/facsimile reissues (e.g. the Livraria Lello collector's edition), all of which are 'first thus' only. Identification rests on the Parceria António Maria Pereira title-page imprint together with the Editorial Império October 1934 printing statement; copies rebound in morocco frequently preserve the original yellow wrappers bound in, which is a binder's practice and not an issue point.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Mensagem* by Fernando Pessoa a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/mensagem
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.