A curious phenomenon emerged in nineteenth-century Portugal, one that is simultaneously intriguing and paradigmatic of the social image of translation: a number of translations were unequivocally signed by women, even if they remained nameless. They were attributed to "a Portuguese lady", "a lady", "a Portuguese girl", etc. The present paper reflects on the social images of both sexes, as revealed by newspapers and magazines of the age, positions them within their wider cultural framework and seeks to analyse and explain the mystery of such semi-anonymous translations.