Botto, António. The Songs of António Botto, translated by Fernando Pessoa and edited with an introduction by Josiah Blackmore. U of Minnesota P, 2010.

Abstract

Recent years have seen a revival of interest in António Botto, abetted by Eduardo Pitta’s fine new editions of his works for Quasi Edições. It is nonetheless remarkable that two new editions have appeared of Fernando Pessoa’s exquisite 1933 translation of Botto’s Canções, previously available only in a privately produced and circulated 1948 edition, of which precious few copies survive. While Jerónimo Pizarro and Nuno Ribeiro’s edition for Guimarães Editores, also published in 2010, responds to the needs of Pessoa scholars, Josiah Blackmore’s elegant and meticulously researched volume presents the Songs for an Anglophone readership, opening with a cogent, perceptive introductory essay, which powerfully advocates Botto’s claim to the world’s attention on three counts.