Paris, Jean Henault, 1659.
8vo [161 x 103 mm] of (1) bl.l., (4) ll., 238 pp., (1) bl.l. Bound in full contemporary limp vellum, handwritten title on the head of the flat spine, library shelf mark on the foot. Contemporary binding.
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First edition of the utmost rarity of this relation of the Jesuit mission to the East Indies in the middle of the 17th century. Sommervogel, Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus, 255. Unknown by Chadenat, Brunet…
“The writer says he has composed this Relation based on the memoirs of several French Fathers. They were 25 to leave: 11 Frenchmen, 11 Portuguese, 3 Italian. Father Spinola was the superior of the expedition. Pp. 195-203, there is a letter from Father de Rhodes.” (Sommervogel)
Father Jacques de Machault (1600-1680) is a French writer who joined the Jesuits when he was 18. He taught the classics and philosophy in various Jesuit schools. He became rector in Alençon, Orléans and Caen. He is the one who composed this work based on notes taken by various religious during their stays in the East Indies.
A seducing copy in its first contemporary vellum binding.
Only 6 French Institutions seem to possess this rare first edition.
We haven’t been able to locate any copy on the public market since the beginning of the reports.
Provenance: stamps on the title and the first blank endpaper.
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