Quincas Borba

Quincas Borba was first published in serial form between June 1886 and September 1891 with ninety-one installments. Machado radically revised and rewrote the novel, eliminating entire chapters and adding others. The novel appeared in book form in November 1891. Set between the years 1867 and 1872, the novel explores the life and philosophy of Quincas Borba, an eccentric figure who appears as a minor character in Machado’s previous novel Memórias póstumas de Brás Cubas. The novel explores questions of skepticism, political power, social capital, and in particular a universal theory of humanity developed by the protagonist called Humanitismo [Humanitism].