PRÁTICAS (ORTO)GRÁ FICAS SEISCENTISTAS NA HISTÓRIA DO FUTURO DE PADRE ANTÓNIO VIEIRA

Abstract

This text analyses Father António Vieira’s spelling practices in História do Futuro based on a new conservative manuscript reading. Written, for the most part, between 1664 and 1665, the fragments of the História do Futuro that have come down to us, attached to Vieira’s inquisitorial process, are working texts, unpolished versions, which, therefore, may eventually reveal some marks of the “classic” period of Portuguese. On the other hand, taking into account that Vieira’s training in spelling falls within the “etymological” period and that his reputation places him among the “good authors”, also in terms of spelling, we seek to identify the conservative and innovative marks and, eventually, the manifestation of an individual practice, which, as is known, was, in Vieira’s time and until the beginning of the 20th century, a notorious trend, particularly among great writers.