Voyages & Discovery
Histoire de ce qui s'est passé au Royaume de la Chine en l'année 1624 · Histoire de ce qui s'est passé au Royaume d'Ethiopie es années 1624, 1625 & 1626 · Histoire de ce qui s'est passé au Royaume du Tibet
KIRWITZER, Wenceslas Pantaleon; PAEZ, Gaspar; MENDES, Afonso; ANDRADE, António de · Paris · Sébastien Cramoisy · 1629
First French editions of three Jesuit relations from China, Ethiopia and Tibet, among them António de Andrade's account of the first European mission in Tibet, bound together in contemporary antiphonal vellum.
FM-0289
€ 12.500
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Key Properties
Edition: First French editions
Contents: Three works in one volume: China (1624), Ethiopia (1624-1626), Tibet (1626)
Format: Octavo, 165 x 105 mm
Pagination: IV, 102; [8], 252 (i.e. 262); [8], 104 (according to the seller's description)
Binding: Contemporary vellum made from an old antiphonal leaf
Provenance: Old ownership inscription on the first title-page
Collation & Technical Description
Three works in one volume. I: IV, 102 pp. II: [8], 252 (i.e. 262) pp. III: [8], 104 pp. (according to the seller's description).
Condition
Contemporary binding of vellum from an old antiphonal leaf, with small abrasions. Printer's device on each of the three title-pages, ornamental headpieces and initials. Old ownership inscription on the first title-page. Some browning and light spotting inside, traces of use; overall in good condition.
References & Bibliography
I: Cordier, Bibliotheca Sinica 815; Streit 2127, 2136; Chadenat 4896; De Backer & Sommervogel II, 1824; Löwendahl 81.
II: Sommervogel V, 258; Carayon 906.
III: Streit V, 310; Cordier, Bibliotheca Sinica 2901.
Description
Under Muzio Vitelleschi, General of the Society of Jesus from 1615, the reports sent to Rome by missionaries in Asia and Africa were translated and printed for a European public eager for news from the far edges of the known world. This volume brings together three such relations, all published in French by Sébastien Cramoisy in Paris in 1629.
The first, on China in 1624, describes the political situation of the Ming empire and the progress of Christianity, followed by letters from the individual missions. It is usually attributed to Wenceslas Pantaleon Kirwitzer, the astronomer and mathematician who signed the last letter; he had sailed for Asia in 1618 and died in China in 1626. Chadenat called it a 'curious and rare collection'.
The second, on Ethiopia in 1624-1626, is drawn from the letters of Gaspar Paes, who was martyred in Ethiopia in 1635, and Afonso Mendes, and gives an account of the country, the state of its church and the work of the Jesuit missions in the years when the Portuguese Jesuits came closest to bringing the Ethiopian church under Rome.
The third contains the letters of António de Andrade on his second journey to Tibet. Andrade, a Portuguese Jesuit at Goa and Agra, had heard of Christian communities beyond the Himalaya, and in 1624, with Brother Manuel Marques, he became the first Western European to reach Tibet. Having obtained permission to found a mission at Tsaparang, capital of the kingdom of Guge, he returned there to begin the mission described in these letters. In 1630 the kingdom was overrun by the king of Ladakh and the missionaries were driven out, which gives these reports their particular value as the record of a short-lived first contact.
Historical Significance
Three first-hand Jesuit reports from China, Ethiopia and Tibet in their first French editions, including the earliest European account of a mission in Tibet.
Provenance
Old ownership inscription on the first title-page.