# Is "The Book of Disquiet" by Fernando Pessoa a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Book of Disquiet by Fernando Pessoa (Edicoes Atica, Lisbon, 1982) is identified by: True first: Edicoes Atica, Lisbon, 1982 — the posthumous editio princeps, 'Livro do Desassossego por Bernardo Soares,' in two volumes, organized with a preface by Jacinto do Prado Coelho and texts collected and transcribed by Maria Aliete Galhoz and Teresa Sobral Cunha (Pessoa died 1935; about 520 fragments assembled). Portuguese true first is Atica 1982 (2 vols).

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- True first: Edicoes Atica, Lisbon, 1982 — the posthumous editio princeps, 'Livro do Desassossego por Bernardo Soares,' in two volumes, organized with a preface by Jacinto do Prado Coelho and texts collected and transcribed by Maria Aliete Galhoz and Teresa Sobral Cunha (Pessoa died 1935; about 520 fragments assembled)
- English is the classic four-way tangle: FOUR competing translations all appeared in 1991 — 'The Book of Disquietude,' trans
- Richard Zenith (Carcanet, Manchester); 'The Book of Disquiet,' trans
- Margaret Jull Costa, ed
- Maria Jose de Lancastre (Serpent's Tail, London); 'The Book of Disquiet,' trans
- Alfred Mac Adam (Pantheon, New York); and 'The Book of Disquiet: A Selection,' trans
- Publisher imprint reads Edicoes Atica, Lisbon

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Fernando Pessoa |
| Publisher | Edicoes Atica, Lisbon |
| Year | 1982 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | True first: Edicoes Atica, Lisbon, 1982 — the posthumous editio princeps, 'Livro do Desassossego por Bernardo Soares,' in two volumes… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
True first: Edicoes Atica, Lisbon, 1982 — the posthumous editio princeps, 'Livro do Desassossego por Bernardo Soares,' in two volumes, organized with a preface by Jacinto do Prado Coelho and texts collected and transcribed by Maria Aliete Galhoz and Teresa Sobral Cunha (Pessoa died 1935; about 520 fragments assembled). English is the classic four-way tangle: FOUR competing translations all appeared in 1991 — 'The Book of Disquietude,' trans. Richard Zenith (Carcanet, Manchester); 'The Book of Disquiet,' trans. Margaret Jull Costa, ed. Maria Jose de Lancastre (Serpent's Tail, London); 'The Book of Disquiet,' trans. Alfred Mac Adam (Pantheon, New York); and 'The Book of Disquiet: A Selection,' trans. Iain Watson (Quartet, London). Each rests on a different selection and arrangement, so each is its own 'first thus.'

## Is this the true first?
Portuguese true first is Atica 1982 (2 vols). No single English edition is 'the' first: the four 1991 translations issued near-simultaneously from four houses in two countries, and no bibliographic consensus establishes which physically appeared first — cite the specific translator/publisher rather than a blanket 'first English edition.' Note the title variant: Zenith's Carcanet edition is 'The Book of Disquietude'; the other three are 'The Book of Disquiet.'

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Zenith's later, fuller Penguin edition (2001/2002) and the Costa-translated 'Complete Edition' (ed. Jeronimo Pizarro, 2017) are separate later translations/editions, not reprints of the 1991 firsts. No book-club edition is a recognized point.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Book of Disquiet* by Fernando Pessoa a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-book-of-disquiet
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.