Forceps

"——And pray, good woman, after all, will you take upon you to say, it may not be the child’s hip, as well as the child’s head?———’Tis most certainly the head, replied the midwife. Because, continued Dr. Slop (turning to my father) as positive as these old ladies generally are—’tis a point very difficult to know—and yet of the greatest consequence to be known;——because, Sir, if the hip is mistaken for the head—there is a possibility (if it is a boy) that the forceps * * * * * * "

Upside down

But the cover illustration? — is this also a upside down? — And where is the instrument — the new invented ultra modern forceps of Dr. Slop?

Letra Livre

—"But try perhaps the "Letra Livre" in Calçada do Combro said an antiquarian in one of the Livrarias — and indeed, yes a portuguese edition — A Vida e Opiniões de Tristram Shandy in two volumes published by Antígona in 1997 — was present on the shelf at Letra Livre. 

Upside down

While turning Lisbon upside down — in the hope to find A Vida e Opiniões de Tristram Shandy — we took the opportunity to visit Museu Berardo in Belem and see Asger Jorn's painting Varens Offer — quite upside down.

*

In Lisbon searching for A Vida e Opiniões de Tristram Shandy, — thinking we might as well been looking for the Jew's widow with the same luck — we had the luck to find a beautiful * in the pavement of Parque Eduardo VII.

"— Não senhor...

...Infelizmente" was the polite answer from many of Lisbons antiquarians on the introducing question: "Do you have a copy of the portuguese edition of A Vida e Opiniões de Tristram Shandy ? ...Obrigada"—("And if we did have a copy; what on earth would you do with Tristram Shandy in portuguese, when your portuguese obviously are so poorly?) could the following part of the answer very well have been.