Coimbra Issue - Set

When Antero de Quental published «Bom Senso e Bom Gosto» (Common Sense and Good Taste), «officially» launching the Questão Coimbrã (Coimbrã Issue), it was already evident that hostility was simmering among many Lisbon intellectuals who gravitated around the old writer António Feliciano de Castilho and the young students of Coimbra. The publishing of the three first poetry books by Antero de Quental and Teófilo Braga, primarily the content of their philosophical prefaces, sent waves of turbulence rippling through the Lisbon group, known as the «escola do elogio mútuo» (mutual appreciation society). Pinheiro Chagas, one of the pupils held dearest by the «master», took it upon himself to use his serial writings to attack the «philosophical infusions» of the young writers.