Revealing the hidden preliminary version of Eça de Queiroz “The Illustrious House of Ramires” using X-ray micro-analysis

An original manuscript of Eça de Queiroz (1845–1900) “The Illustrious House of Ramires”, published in 1900, was analyzed using high resolution X-ray Fluorescence imaging. Several words and sentences were canceled, as corrections for later versions. In two cases, however, almost half a page was covered with a new sheet of paper (glued) and rewritten. Taking advantage of the penetration power of the characteristic X-rays of the chromium present in the ink with which the text was written, we were able to reconstruct the sentences that were edited by the author. The images created, combined with paleographic expertise, will enable the discovery of the preliminary version of this classic of Portuguese literature.