[Rarebooks] FS - 1701 travels to India and Japan

[GREENFIELD BOOKS]

*MASSEI, Giuseppe. /VITA DI S. FRANCESCO SAVERIO APOSTOLO DELL'INDIE 
DELLA COMPAGNIA DI GESU/*. ("The Life of St. Francis Xavier / The 
Apostle to the Indians / of the Company of Jesus."). Bound in full 
contemporary vellum. First published 1681 in Rome, this is the third 
edition, published in Florence, Italy, in 1701. Small 4to,, pp. [8], 349.

St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552) was a pioneering Roman Catholic 
missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus (i.e, the Jesuits). He 
was born into an aristocratic family in the Kingdom of Navarre (in 
Spain), and obtained his formal and religious training in Paris. He was 
one of the most widely-travelled Catholic missionaries, spending most of 
his adult life in foreign countries, particularly in India (1542 to 
1545) and Japan (1549 to 1552). He is venerated as a saint who brought 
the Christian faith to Asia (the Roman Catholic Church considers him to 
have converted more people to Christianity than any other saint since 
St. Paul), but his methods of "conversion" were notoriously brutal. This 
title was published in Florence by Pier Mattia Miccioni and Michele 
Nestenus. It is divided into three "books", the first dealing with 
Xavier's travels to the Indian subcontinent, the second with his travels 
in Japan, and the third dealing with his death and later canonization. 
The text is in Italian. The vellum binding is, after 300 plus years, 
tight and in reasonably good shape, with some wear to the edges and some 
light soiling and discolouration. There is a noticeable old stain to the 
bottom half of the first fifty, or so, pages. A few later pages are 
unaccountably darkened, but the remainder of the text is fresh and 
bright. There is an extensive Index at the end of the book. The book has 
a slight smoky odor: it is not of tobacco but of wood smoke. A good 
airing should ameliorate that defect. Overall, the book is in good, to 
good plus, condition.

Price:  $400.00.

Terms of sale - The price is in USD, and it is a special price to the 
list. The book is offered subject to prior sale. Payment by check or 
credit card. Postage and packing charge is $7.50. Returnable within 
seven days of receipt if not as described.

 
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