Relacam annual das cousas que fizeram os Padres da Companhia de Iesus nas partes da India Oriental, e em algúas outras da conquista deste Reyno, nos annos de 604 & 605. & do processo da conversam & Christandade daquellas partes. Tirada das cartas dos mesmos Padres que de là vieram... Vay dividida em quatro livros: o primeiro do Japam; o segundo da China; terceiro da Índia; da Ethiopia & Guine.

First edition. Small 4to. 18th century calf. Ownership inscription and stamp on title. A very good copy. [ii] 158pp. Lisbon, Pedro Crasbeeck, 

Fernão Guerreiro (1550-1617) was responsible for one of the most important and rare compilations of Jesuit activities in India and the Far East: It was the primary source for many of the other European volumes which concerned themselves with Japanese and Chinese mission during this period. He was noted for the minute detail he gave and thus the above volume is of considerable merit. The present work "begins with a review of conditions, both spiritual and temporal, in Japan during 1603-4, with special attention to martyrdoms and conversions. This is followed, almost by way of contrast, with a discussion of the successes in China and with much more information on native life: trade, the civil service examinations of 1604, and the Moors of China. A brief section on the Moluccas precedes a review of events in Bengal, Pegu, and South India" (Lach: Asia in the Making of Europe. Vol. III, 1; p. 317). Six chapters deal exclusively with the colleges and conversion successes in Ming China with particular emphasis on Macao, Peking, Canton and Nanking. It includes observations on the Muslim population, attributed to immigration and conversions during the previous Yuan dynasty.

An uncommon title: Streit was famously unable to find a copy of this volume. C.f. Streit V, 85 ("We could not locate a copy"). The present volume is the third of a set of five that were separately issued by the Superior of the House of the Professed in Lisbon, Fernão Guerreiro (1550-1617), over a period of 8 years. The first volume appeared in 1603 in Evora, the last in 1611 in Lisbon. No copy in the Portuguese National Archive, Torre de Tombo. Cordier 256. 6 copies in OCLC. 

Stock Code: 228499