This first edition of Cobra was published through &etc, one of the most respected independent Portuguese publishers. The work, presented in the publisher's iconic paperback covers, is a particular case in the literary production of "the greatest Portuguese poet of the second half of the 20th century", Herberto Helder. A paradigmatic case of Portuguese poetry, he published landmark works of reference for the Portuguese language, and was awarded the Pessoa Prize in 1994, which he refused. Of the 1,200 copies of Cobra published, 200 were hors-commerce, that is, off market. Within an experimentalist current, it is known the writer altered, whenever possible, the text between copies, with annotations to the text, making them different from each other and from the original version. The work thus did not become a crystallized piece but rather remained dynamic and in flux.