The Typesetting of Pessoa’s The Transformation Book

5thET, Barcelos, Portugal — November 28, 2014 — Alessandro Segalini

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0 — Introduction
1 — The Manuscript
2 — About the writing of The Transformation Book
3 — The Structure of the Book
3.1 — Proportions
3.2 — Stylesheet
3.3 — ToC and Information Architecture
3.4 — Multiple Headings
3.5 — Infratexts
4 — The Typesetting Machine
4.1 — Glyphs
4.2 — Footnote Flow
4.3 — Double Discretionary Ligatures
5 — The Wrap of the Book
5.1 — Page #ing starting from zero
5.2 — Title Spread
5.3 — Colophon
5.4 — Cover
6 — Conclusion
isbn 978–1–9406250–4–1
www.contramundum.net

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0 The Transformation Book — or Book of Tasks
[BNP/E, C – r]
The Transformation Book — or Book of
Tasks contains a series of texts written
in English, Portuguese, & French.
CMP believes that typography is situ-
ated at the intersection of language,
culture, technology & aesthetics.
Through the critical efforts of the edi-
tors, a fundamental project of Fernando
Pessoa’s is now brought from the con-
fines of the archive to the public in its
most complete & accurate typographic
form.
It is difficult to elaborate on typeset-
ting because it is both an intellectual &
a physical performance that remains in-
visible, or fixed once a book is printed ―
often even underestimated, if not forgot-
ten or overlooked by the general public.

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1
Charles James Search
[BNP/E, C – r]

[BNP/E,  – v]
[BNP/E,  – v]
The ms. was a multi-lingual (English,
French, & Portuguese) 322 page, A4,
Word formatted .doc which included:
Pages: 322
Words: 69,400
Characters: 350,000
Paragraphs: 4,700
Footnotes: 1,247
Images: 14

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1
Transcription Symbols
  &  
 ﬆruck-out segment
 h xxxxxx segment inserted above
 i xxxxxx segment inserted below
 g xxxxxx segment inserted on the right side
 f xxxxxx segment inserted on the left side
 /xxxxxx\ variant segment
 underlined segment
| | segment doubted by the author
† illegible word
£ empty ace left by the author
[x |y] subﬆitution by superposition, in the relation
[subﬆituted | subﬆitute]
|* | conje ural reading
[] segment added by the editor
[…] absence of material support [damaged segment
in the original material]
Nacional-Casa da Moeda, ). Others were adapted or
created for the purpose & ecificity of a general edition of
Pessoa’s writings — these symbols will be used in future
editions of Pessoa’s fragments.
[C – r]
The Transformation
Book —

Book of Tasks
F. Nogueira essôa.
. e numbers in square brackets preceding the transcription of
each se ion corre ond to the original numbers identifying those
documents in e Pessoa Archive (E), kept at the Biblioteca
Nacional de Portugal (BNP). e numbers always precede the
transcriptions they belong to.
[BNP/E3, 50A1 – 14r]

[BNP/E, A – r: detail of the fragment below]
.
  &  
—
“Pantaloon” was a critical chara er, usually a greedy
merchant (and advisor) from Venice — and both criti-
cism and inﬆruction are elements that define Pantaleão,
who is chara erized as a pessimiﬆic pre-heteronym. He
maintains a critical attitude towards life and his own
epoch, as can be seen in an aphorism attributed to him :
anta eão.
Life is an evil worthy of being enjoyed.
[A vida é um mal digno de ser gosado.]
[BNP/E, H – r]
  &  
—
“Pantaloon” was a critical chara er, usually a greedy
merchant (and advisor) from Venice — and both criti-
cism and inﬆruction are elements that define Pantaleão,
who is chara erized as a pessimiﬆic pre-heteronym. He
maintains a critical attitude towards life and his own
epoch, as can be seen in an aphorism attributed to him :
anta eão.
Life is an evil worthy of being enjoyed.
[A vida é um mal digno de ser gosado.]
[BNP/E, H – r]

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The Transformation Book was conceived
by Pessoa in 1908, a year of great social &
cultural transformation in Portugal. It is
the singular result of an intersection of Pes-
soa’s personal intellectual trajectory with
his hopes for fomenting transformation.
It provides significant insight into the con-
struction of Pessoa’s plural literary uni-
verse, with texts written in three languages,
and moves between poetry, fiction, & satire
accompany essays on politics, philosophy,
& psychiatry.
The book marks one of the fundamental
stages in Pessoa’s elaboration of a new con-
ception of literary space, one that he came
to express as a “drama in people.” Alexan-
der Search, Pantaleão, J.S. de Méluret, &
Charles James Search are the four “pre-het-
eronyms” to which the texts are attributed.
Source: Wikipedia (Lisbon_Regicide)

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Book size: 127 × 203 mm (5 × 8 in.)
Text frame: 90 × 146 mm (3.54 × 5.75 in.)
Text frame ratio: 1:1.6
Baseline grid: 15 pt
Lines per page: 29
Font: Adobe Jenson Pro, 12 pt
Characters per line ~: 50
Chars / words per page ~: 1540/250
# of pages: 512
Book spine width: 26.1 mm (1.03 in.)
# of Master pages: 36 ( §s)
¶ styles: 21
Character styles: 16
Headings: 650, in 10 styles
Navigation Header: 10 pt Small Caps
35 chars max. lenght (80% w.)
Top margin: 26 mm / 1.02 in.
Bottom margin: 31 mm / 1.22 in.
Outside margin: 17 mm / 0.67 in.
Inside margin: 20 mm / 0.79 in.
Native .indd files: 3, 46.7 MB total | Press .pdf PDF: 7.7 MB

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Paragraph Styles Character Styles main text
Adobe Jenson Pro, 12/15 pt
main text indent
5 mm (14¼ pt)
footnotes
Adobe Jenson Pro, 10/12.5 pt,
#s outdented
infratext type size
11/15 pt, 8 mm (22½ pt)
left/right indent (¬3)
§ heading
ITC Legacy Sans, 14 pt
ampersand
Adobe Garamond Pro Italic
Proportion Bar by William Adams (2005).

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Legacy
Legacy
Jenson
Jenson
Jenson, Contra Mundum’s house typeface,
pairs nicely with the structure of a
humanist sans serif like Legacy Sans.
Such a text like Pessoa’s fragments
requires clear, logical type treatment
that legibly renders the critical apparatus
(critical intro, footnotes, bibliography,
etc.).
The stylesheet was designed to produce a
book that not only meets the parameters
of the house style of the press, but also a
book that meets the standards of Pessoa
studies as well.
The reason behind the use of the Jenson
typeface for this book project have to be
found in its archetypal roman structure
& high legibility.

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3
Introdu ion by Nuno Ribeiro & Cláudia Souza 
Images 
THE TRANSFORMATION BOOK
OR BOOK OF TASKS 
Alexander Search 
e Portuguese Regicide and the Political Situation
in Portugal 
e Philosophy of Rationalism 
e Mental Disorder of Jesus 
Delirium 
Agony 
Pantaleão 
A Psychose Adeantativa 
As Visões do Sñr. Pantaleão 
A Nossa Adminiﬆração Colonial 
Jean Seul de Méluret 
Des Cas d’Exhibitionnisme 
La France en  — Satire 
Messieurs les Souteneurs — Satire 
Charles James Search — Fragments of Translations 
Anthero de Quental’s ‘Complete Sonnets’ 
Sonnets (chosen) of Camoens 
Guerra Junqueiro — Choice 
Table of Contents
I —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
ADDENDA 
Biographical Texts Concerning Alexander Search 
Further Fragments Concerning the Insanity of Jesus 
Proje s and Liﬆs of Poems Concerning Delirium 
Fragments and Other Poems Related to Delirium 
A Liﬆ Concerning Agony 
Note from a Diary 
Biographical Texts Concerning Pantaleão 
Proje s Concerning As Visões do Sñr. Pantaleão 
Further Writings Concerning A Nossa Adminiﬆração
Colonial 
Biographical Texts Concerning Jean Seul de Méluret 
Further Fragments Concerning Exhibitionism 
Further Fragments Concerning La France en  
Further Fragments Concerning Messieurs les
Souteneurs 
Fragments of e Student of Salamanca signed by
Alexander Search 
Bibliography 
II —
. —
. —
. —
.. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
. —
Most ToC are not read but used —
flipped through & scanned.

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









1.0 — Alexander Search
[C – r]
[r]
Alexander earch.
Delirium
omed .
Introdu ion.
II.
. Chapter on : Fallacies
Flashes of Madness.
. : 

[r]
e irium
Flashes of Madness.
II.
When thou seeëst me end hours
Holding in a feverish glance
y mouth or teeth, or thy hand,
And noteﬆ how my soul devours
With a sleepness like to trance
e commoneﬆ things that ﬆand,
And askeﬆ what in them I see
at into each my irit delves
As if each had a myﬆery,
ou err’ﬆ in thy conje urings,
For what ever obsesses me
Is not things in their weary selves
But the being there of things.
Alexander earc
February .
. el[irium]
. feverish /htoo-local \ glance
. As if it heach had a mystery,
. Is not things in their weary /hmany \ selves
And hBut the common soul h being here /ibeing there\ /such\ of things
. : 
[r]
e irium
Flashes of Madness.
II.
When thou seeëst me end hours
Holding in a feverish glance
y mouth or teeth, or thy hand,
And noteﬆ how my soul devours
With a sleepness like to trance
e commoneﬆ things that ﬆand,
And askeﬆ what in them I see
at into each my irit delves
As if each had a myﬆery,
ou err’ﬆ in thy conje urings,
For what ever obsesses me

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4
   . :   

£ the old bourgeoisie of the wrong rationalism, from
poor old omas Paine, who £ to Mr. J.M. Robertson,
.
.
who di ossessed God of infinity in favour of that
universal interval called ace.
It is brilliant to [the] point of nauseousness …
But the rationaliﬆ makes no confli with any man’s
opinions. He admits the possibility of the exiﬆence of
God & the possibility of that God being the wood idol
of the African wilds. Like Baudelaire, he would say to
the disguﬆed sailor who wanted to throw that idol into
a corner, “Et si c’était le vrai Dieu ?”
Religion is an emotional need of mankind. e ratio-
naliﬆ may not want it, but he has to admit that other
people may. Itis emotional but it is also a need.
enuine in hakes eare [CFP, –] ; e aconian eres
[CFP, –] ; harles radlau h [CFP, –] ; e namics o
eli ion [CFP, –] ; e axon and the elt [CFP, –] ;
e roblem o “ amlet” [CFP, –] ; “ amlet” Once ore
[CFP, –] ; esus and udas [CFP, –] ; e volution o
tates [CFP, –] ; e istorical esus [CFP, –] ; illiam
rcher as ationalist [CFP, –], a collection of writings edit-
ed by Robertson ; e hiloso hical orks o rancis acon,
ed. with an introduction by Robertson [CFP, –].
. disposses[s]ed
. Baude[al|la]ire, he would say to the h disgusted sailor who wanted
to throw that idol into a corner, in disgust,
. It is an emotional need It

|We may conceive the total of mankind as the pas-
sengers and crew of a ship of fools, left helmless on an
uncharted ocean. ey will make games laﬆ while life
endures, and have death for a certainty, with some expec-
tation of being saved, for there may be a better map for
a ship coming on their way.|
[r]
ationalism.
… dreary as a languid gorgeousness, like that of [the]
aeri ueene, which not even Edmund Spenser ever
dared to read through in all the entirety there is of it.
. [w|c]oming
. of h the wrong rationalism,
. John Mackinnon Robertson (–) was a member of
the English rationalist movement that emerged in the United
Kingdom between the end of the XIX and the beginning of
the XX century. In Pessoa’s Private Library, there are twenty-
three of Robertson’s books : ioneer umanists [CFP, –] ;
a an rists [CFP, –] ; rownin and enn son as eac -
ers [CFP, –] ; hort istor o reet ou t [CFP,
–] ; ristianit an t o o [CFP, –] ; ssa s on o-
cio o [CFP, –] ; riticisms [CFP, –] ; ssa s in t ics
[CFP, –] ; odern umanists [CFP, –] ; hort is-
tor o ristianit [CFP, –] ; x orations [CFP, –] ; e
  . :   
.
.
who di ossessed God of infinity in favour of that
universal interval called ace.
It is brilliant to [the] point of nauseousness …
But the rationaliﬆ makes no confli with any man’s
opinions. He admits the possibility of the exiﬆence of
God & the possibility of that God being the wood idol
of the African wilds. Like Baudelaire, he would say to
the disguﬆed sailor who wanted to throw that idol into
a corner, “Et si c’était le vrai Dieu ?”
Religion is an emotional need of mankind. e ratio-
naliﬆ may not want it, but he has to admit that other
people may. Itis emotional but it is also a need.
enuine in hakes eare [CFP, –] ; e aconian eres
[CFP, –] ; harles radlau h [CFP, –] ; e namics o
eli ion [CFP, –] ; e axon and the elt [CFP, –] ;
e roblem o “ amlet” [CFP, –] ; “ amlet” Once ore
[CFP, –] ; esus and udas [CFP, –] ; e volution o
mankind as the pas-
s, left helmless on an
games laﬆ while life
nty, with some expec-
y be a better map for
ss, like that of [the]
dmund Spenser ever
ntirety there is of it.
g rationalism, from
Mr. J.M. Robertson,
) was a member of
t emerged in the United
X and the beginning of
universal i
It is bril
But the
opinions. H
God & th
of the Afr
the disguﬆ
a corner,
Religion
naliﬆ may
people may
enuine
[CFP, –
eli ion
e rob
[CFP, –
tates [C
rcher as
ed by Ro
ed. with a
. disposse
endures, and have death for a certainty, with some expec-
tation of being saved, for there may be a better map for
a ship coming on their way.|
[r]
ationalism.
… dreary as a languid gorgeousness, like that of [the]
aeri ueene, which not even Edmund Spenser ever
dared to read through in all the entirety there is of it.
. [w|c]oming
. of h the wrong rationalism,
. John Mackinnon Robertson (–) was a member of
the English rationalist movement that emerged in the United
Kingdom between the end of the XIX and the beginning of
the XX century. In Pessoa’s Private Library, there are twenty-
three of Robertson’s books : ioneer umanists [CFP, –] ;
a an rists [CFP, –] ; rownin and enn son as eac -
ers [CFP, –] ; hort istor o reet ou t [CFP,
–] ; ristianit an t o o [CFP, –] ; ssa s on o-

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4
. a i ugly .·.—·.· .·.—·.· decay. [. Ha,
. h pur /hcomme\ intelle ual phenomenon g of these being † a † thing is en
£ classes a part [/,  – , r] of the juﬆ higher
. & ft/h celled \ f amg g fools to /i in\ obs £ £ £ cure,
. God Humaniﬆs [,  – ]; h is
�¶ £ & man & man Sñr. Sñr.
f x Weird g x heading g [/ –  – r]
A[nt ero e] Q[uental] . all iunknown h mose & doubt
 and ∞ ( ? )
[/ – ,  – ]
El-Rei † † † a † † thing () () ()
. . 
............
Sleeper. x x January ✓ ✓
(dewness) –– –.
Mlle en Madame nd M & Mme, Mlle
e rans ormation oo
............
e rans ormation oo
(BNP) (E) / id eﬆ Alexander Search.
[BNP/E,  – v]
BNP/E, C – r. BNP/E, C – .
— H dialogue
= H
. a i ugly .·.—·.· .·.—·.· decay. [. Ha,
. h pur /hcomme\ intelle ual phenomenon g of these being † a † thing is en
£ classes a part [/,  – , r] of the juﬆ higher
. & ft/h celled \ f amg g fools to /i in\ obs £ £ £ cure,
. God Humaniﬆs [,  – ]; h is
�¶ £ & man & man Sñr. Sñr.
f x Weird g x heading g [/ –  – r]
A[nt ero e] Q[uental] . all iunknown h mose & doubt
 and ∞ ( ? )
[/ – ,  – ]
El-Rei † † † a † † thing () () ()
. . 
............
e rans ormation oo
“Typography is two-dimensional
architecture, based on experience &
imagination, & guided by rules and
readability. And this is the purpose
of typography:
The arrangement of design elements
within a given structure should allow
the reader to easily focus on the mes-
sage, without slowing down the speed
of reading.”
—Hermann Zapf

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4
. :   

What is  said, more limitedly, of opinion, can be said,
more £ of sentiment, all nationality supposes an a ive
colle ive  chara er, colle ive sentiment, when this
grows proportionate, the individual begins to totter.
e expression of the popular will is the govern-
ment : that is the higheﬆ manifeﬆation of the integrat-
ing tendency (juﬆ as the brain is the higheﬆ integration
of the organism). e individual, ua in ivi ua , is, in
the ﬆate, the expression of the disintegration tendency.
e government representing the will of the people
(we have been eaking, of course, of an internally free
country) and the “will of the people” representing the
integrating tendency in the ﬆate, that which gives it,
though composed of a large number of elements, its
unity ; if the government (in the exa sense of the gov-
erning, not of the overnors) be consiﬆently incapable,
troubled, incoherent, the conclusion to be drawn is that
the a ivity of disintegration is becoming greater in the
ﬆate than the contrary force of a ivity, and that the
country is in decay. e death of the ﬆate — it is hardly
necessary to add — were where everyone should do as
. All nationality supposes What is
. hactive collective
. hinternally free
. hexact sense of the governing, not of the overnors) be hconsistently
incapable,
. hin the state than
[a]
colle ive chara er, colle ive sentiment, when this
. hinternally free
. hexact sense of the governing, not of the overnors) be hconsistently
incapable,
[a]
What is  said, more limitedly, of opinion, can be said,
more £ of sentiment, all nationality supposes an a ive
colle ive  chara er, colle ive sentiment, when this
[a]
When transcribing the manu-
script, editors Ribeiro & Souza
retained the first version of a
word or sentence whenever it
had variants. ¶ Footnotes also
contain crossed out words,
phrases, etc. as well as any other
changes Pessoa made to his text.
Through this philological work,
the editors present Pessoa’s
compositional process to the
reader while simultaneously
providing Pessoa scholars with
a vital critical apparatus.
The challenge was to present this
material elegantly so as to keep it
from resembling a textbook, or to
keep it from being too potentially
chaotic or visually distracting to
the general reader.

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4
ﬆ ﬅ
ffi fi ffl ff fl
ct sp st ſh ſi ſl ſt ſſ
ffi fi Th ffj ffl ff fj fl
structure g ﬆru ure g stru ure
discretionary
ligatures
discretionary
ligatures
activated
only one
discretionary
ligature
per word
normal
ligatures
“two ligatures in one
word GREP search”
\w*(ct|sp|st|fh|and)\w*?(ct|sp|st|fh|and)\ w*
e firﬆ pre-heteronym one encounters in e rans-
ormation oo is Alexander Search, and Pessoa’s cre-
ation of him has a very intricate ﬆru ure and hiﬆory.
He appears at the crossroads of the definition of other
literary pre-heteronyms — and even, of Pessoa himself.
ation of him has a very intricate stru ure and hiﬆory.
ﬆ ﬅ
ffi fi ffl ff fl
ct sp st ſh ſi ſl ſt ſſ
ffi fi Th ffj ffl ff fj fl
structure g ﬆru ure g stru ure
discretionary
ligatures
discretionary
ligatures
activated
only one
discretionary
ligature
per word
normal
ligatures
“two ligatures in one
word GREP search”
\w*(ct|sp|st|fh|and)\w*?(ct|sp|st|fh|and)\ w*
ation of him has a very intricate ﬆru ure and hiﬆory.
ation of him has a very intricate stru ure and hiﬆory.
#BetterUIforBetterTypography

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5
In Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea, Charles
Seife outlines the genealogy of the number 0, noting its
exclusion by the Greeks (there is no void hence there
is no zero), how medieval scholars branded it as evil,
how the Holy Roman Empire utilized it to condemn
heretics, how it threatens the foundations of modern
physics, how the number persists in the core of black
holes & the flickers of the Big Bang, et cetera.
As Seife points out, even though the number 0
continues to be ignored, it is embedded in our culture:
the first hour of the day starts at zero seconds past
midnight, not at 1 am; although we count with ordinal
numbers, we mark time with cardinal ones; and
when a child is born, technically it is 0 years old, only
becoming one after having lived for 12 months.
Spurred by Seife’s text, and in opposition to the con-
tinuing eschewal of the number zero in the pagination
of books, Rainer J. Hanshe, the publisher & editor
of Contra Mundum Press, decided to reinstitute the
heretical # & to have all CMP books begin with 0.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
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37
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40
41
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55
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58
59
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61
62
63
64
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66
67
68
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71
72
73
74
75
76
77
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80
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85
86
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89
90
91
92
93
94
95
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98
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101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
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110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
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129
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131
132
133
134
135
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137
138
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142
143
144
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146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
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155
156
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159
160
161
162
163
164
165
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168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
…

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5
T T B
— or the Book of Tasks, edited by
Nuno Ribeiro & Cláudia Souza
L L   T
— ou Livre des Tâches, édité par
O L  T
— ou Livr
o das Tarefas, editado por
T T B
— or the Book of Tasks, edited by
L L   T
— ou Livre des Tâches, édité par
O L  T
— ou Livro das Tarefas, editado
pela Nuno Ribeiro & Cláudia Souza
exan er
earc
ernan o
essoa
C ar es ames
earc
ean eu
é uret
anta eão
Edition
Notes
Introduction
Nuno
Ribeiro
& Cláudia
Souza
Fernando Pessoa
The title spread image was generated
using a “Tile” filter to achieve a sort of
parallax effect with the layered text, & to
give a hint of the many heteronyms
possibles by Pessoa — all the rectan-
gles, the spaces in which now Alexander
Search, Pantaleão, Jean Seul de Méluret,
& Charles James Search sit.

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5
COLOPHON
was typeset in InDesign.
e text and page numbers are set in Adobe enson Pro.
e titles are set in e ac ans.
Book design & typesetting: Alessandro Segalini
Cover design: Contra Mundum Press
Cover image: Giuseppe Arcimboldo, i iote arien, ca. .
Oil on canvas,  x  cm. Skokloﬆers Slott, Bålsta, Sweden.
is published by Contra Mundum Press
and printed by Lightning Source, which has received Chain of
Custody certiﬁcation from: e Forest Stewardship Council,
e Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certiﬁcation,
and e Sustainable Forestry Initiative.
While many if not most presses offer no
typesetting information & give no credit
within their books to their typographers,
CMP has reinstituted the colophon to give
such due recognition.

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5

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6
This project was assessed by the publisher & by the editors,
& by two anonymous readers enlisted by CMP. Recently (July
2014), the prestigious Casa F. Pessoa held a 3-day conference
on Pessoa and one entire panel was devoted to our edition,
while other lectures were given on the book as well.
From its multilingual texts to each of its scholarly and philo-
logical apparatuses, typesetting Pessoa’s TB in a logical and
precise manner that would also be pleasing to the general
reader presented numerous challenges.
Nobly accommodating the textual data included harmoniously
uniting multiple headings, copy, footnotes, archival references,
etc. The abundance of transcription symbols that pepper the
book also led me to devise elegant and lucid solutions so that
the book would remain an object of beauty and not resemble
an overly dense, information-packed textbook.
In being presented with the task of typesetting a world pre-
miere edition of a book by Fernando Pessoa, often considered
the Dante of Portugal, I was inspired to develop a multiplicity
of solutions that would serve & honor such a significant text.

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6

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The Typesetting of Pessoa’s The Transformation Book

The Typesetting of Pessoa’s The Transformation Book

Alessandro Segalini

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