Posthumous Works

Tolentino, Nicolau, 1740-1811Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.6

Word count: 70K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Obras posthumas by Nicolau TolentinoAuthor: Tolentino, Nicolau, 1740-1811,Language: Portuguese, Class: PQ: Language and Literatures: Romance literatures: French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Release Date: Jul 3, 2011

Editor's review

Obras posthumas is the posthumous collection of the Portuguese poet Nicolau Tolentino, released by Project Gutenberg as a public-domain Portuguese text. Tolentino was active in the eighteenth century, and his writing often carries satire and observations of social customs; this posthumous collection serves as a sample for understanding Portuguese poetry around the Enlightenment period. Its reading value lies not in plot but in language style, satirical technique, and period atmosphere: readers can sense the rhetorical habits and street-level observations of eighteenth-century Portuguese poetry. As a posthumous compilation, the arrangement and themes of the pieces may not be uniform, making it more suitable for readers with Portuguese foundations who are willing to read slowly and consult background materials. It is best read within the context of Portuguese literary history or eighteenth-century European satirical poetry, rather than as an entry-level light read.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers with Portuguese foundations who want to encounter eighteenth-century poetry
Learners studying Portuguese literary history and the satirical poetry tradition
Those who need public-domain Portuguese texts for close language reading
Readers interested in eighteenth-century European writing on social customs

Not a good fit for

People with no Portuguese foundation who want a translated leisure read
Readers expecting coherent plots or modern novelistic narrative
Beginners who need detailed notes and modern scholarly introductions

Reading tips

First learn about Tolentino's life, times, and satirical poetry background before entering the text.
Read two or three poems at a time, using a Portuguese dictionary to sort out key words and rhetoric.
Excerpt sentences involving social customs and read them against eighteenth-century Portuguese history.
If the language barrier is high, read relevant chapters of Portuguese literary history first, then return to close reading of the original.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

What language is this book written in?

The original is in Portuguese and is a public-domain electronic text. Reading requires some Portuguese foundation, especially poetic vocabulary and eighteenth-century expressive habits, otherwise it is easy to remain at literal understanding.

What are the characteristics of Tolentino's writing?

From common literary history knowledge, he often observed social customs and daily life with a satirical pen. This posthumous collection suits readers interested in his language style and the period's satirical tradition, not readers seeking plot.

Is the posthumous collection suitable for reading straight through?

Not necessarily. The themes and arrangement of a posthumous compilation may be inconsistent; it is advisable to browse the table of contents first, select themes of interest for segmented reading, and then form an overall understanding with literary-historical background.

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About the author

Tolentino, Nicolau, 1740-1811 Author · Portuguese · 1740–1811

Nicolau Tolentino (Tolentino, Nicolau, 1740–1811) was a Portuguese Neoclassical poet known for his satirical verse and verse epistles. Public information about his life is limited, and his literary reputation rests mainly on his works themselves. Two of his works are held in this collection—Obras posthumas and Obras poéticas de Nicoláo Tolentino de Almeida, Tom. II—which offer a glimpse of his poetic output. His satirical poems are witty in tone, observing human affairs with playful restraint, while his verse epistles are more intimate and natural, blending narrative and lyric elements. Together these genres reflect the tension between formal convention and personal expression in Portuguese Neoclassical poetry and give later readers a sense of the varied styles of the eighteenth-century Portuguese literary scene.