Editorial data

Princípio. Publicação de cultura e política was one of three publications published by the Renascença Portuguesa, alongside A Águia (1910-1932) and A Vida Portuguesa (1912-1915). Only four issues were published, between May and July 1930, with irregular periodicity (15/05, 5 and 25/06, and 25/07), and it was directed by Álvaro Ribeiro, Adolfo Casais Monteiro, and Manuel Maia Pinto, in addition to Carlos Bastos’ role as editor and deputy administrator. The newsroom and administration offices were located at Rua dos Mártires da Liberdade, 178, Porto, the same address of the headquarters of the intellectual movement that was responsible for the magazine. The first three issues were printed at the Tipografia Costa Carregal, Travessa Passos Manuel, 27, Porto, and the last at the Imprensa Moderna Ltda, Rua da Fábrica, 80, in the same city. Each copy cost one escudo and subscriptions were offered for five or ten issues. There is no information about the print run.

The internal structure of the publication did not change significantly, except for the title logo on the cover of the last issue. Opening each issue, readers found a header with editorial data and a listing of books published by the Renascença Portuguesa. This was followed by eight pages with articles, the Cinema section, and advertising on the back covers. The text was arranged in two columns, except for the Cinema section, which had a different layout. It was common for longer articles to end at the bottom of the following page, which would consequently contain different texts, separated by a thicker line than the one used in the columns.

At the end of most articles there are small notes on different matters that, in the graphic layout, were intended to fill empty spaces. Some concerned the magazine itself and listed future contributors, announced new initiatives, such as the projected book review section, or urged readers and institutions to collect and subscribe to the publication, which was freely distributed to members of the Renascença Portuguesa. The insistent calls to achieve a minimum (unspecified) number of subscribers suggest financial difficulties, with direct impact on the amount of pages, sections, and even the existence of the magazine. Other notes, which went beyond the scope of Princípio, recommended reading A Águia and suggested books, all from the Renascença Portuguesa catalogue, a movement which readers were also invited to join.

Regarding the collaborators, it is interesting to see the directors themselves writing, especially Adolfo Casais Monteiro, who was responsible for the Cinema section and penned four articles. Although, by its nature, the magazine did not feature illustrated articles, it did rely on the participation of Ventura Porfírio, author of the header that appeared on the cover of the first three issues. The artist shared the authorship of the published vignettes with Adalberto Sampaio, including the one intended for the Cinema section, published in the third issue.

Tania Regina de Luca