Handwritten copy of Almada’s poem Histoire du Portugal par Cœur [History of Portugal by Heart], presumably by Maria Adelaide Burnay Soares Cardoso, who donated the work to the CAM. The date written on the manuscript, Abril 7, 1919, corresponds to Almada Negreiros’ birthday.

Maria Adelaide Burnay Soares Cardoso was one of the member of the ‘Five Colors Club’, where she used the nickname Lalá. This club was a ballet group created in 1918 on the occasion of the creation and performance of O jardim da Pierrette [The garden of Pierrette], written by Almada himself.* The other members where Almada, Tareca (Maria Madalena Morais da Silva Amado), Zeca (Maria José Burnay Soares Cardoso) and Tatão (Maria da Conceição de Mello Breyner). The performance of O jardim da Pierrette was a decisive moment for the genesis of Almada’s poetics of ingenuity, here related to topics seen as essential to creation such as childhood, imagination and spontaneity. Almada would further develop these themes during his stay in Paris between 1919 and 1920.

Histoire du Portugal par Cœur was published in the first issue of the Contemporânea magazine (May 1922), in relation to which this manuscript has some variations. Yet another variant is included, under the title Histoire du Portugal par Cœur et au Hasard écrite par Moi pour Mes 4 Cousines, in the first issue of the handwritten jornal Parva (em Latin) [Parva (in Latin)].

* Other works from the collection of the CAM also belong to this context. See the drawings and letters with inventory numbers DP167, DP168, DP176, DP183, DP184, DP244, DP245, DP246, DP248, DP249 and DP250.

SAF

May 2010