Deus Jacinto (2 results)

Rare first (and until 1946 only) edition of a concise account of the qualities needed to be a good ruler and the best Christian manner of educating people to be rulers, by Jacinto de Deos or Deus (Macau 1612-Goa 1681), a Capuchin Franciscan missionary in Goa under Portuguese rule, dedicated to the Prince Regent and future King Dom Pedro II (1648-1706) of Portugal. Dom Pedro was 22 when De Deos published it, though he had already been de facto head of state for three years. It was no doubt intended both for him and for the future education of his daughter and heir, then two years old, but in the event she died before him. The fact that De Deos was a Franciscan in Asia gives the book special significance for its insights into his attitudes, for the Jesuits largely dominated the literature on missionary work in Asia. We know less about the Franciscans, though they claimed priority over the Jesuits in most regions.Pedro Craesbeeck of Antwerp, who had worked in Christoffel Plantin's printing office there in the 1580s, set up his own printing office in Lisbon by 1597, founding a prominent and highly respected printing dynasty that continued there to 1690. With manuscript annotations on the title-page and first free end-leaf, including 17th- and early 18th-century owner's inscriptions: "Araujo 200"[?], "N.[?] Lucas de Slenezes[?]" and "He.[?] do .ed des Manoel Dias . 1712". With a small wormhole in the lower fore-edge margin, occasionally slightly affecting a letter of the text in the first third (a thinner worm trail in the upper outside corner rarely touches the text), a minor water stain at the head of quire P and a small yellow stain on S8v, but still in very good condition. The binding also shows a few small worm holes, and half of the upper headband is lost, but it remains in good condition.l Innoce^ncio III, 238; Porbase (2 copies); WorldCat 11529534, 433447739 (7 copies). Contemporary sheepskin parchment without boards, sewn on 2 parchment supports, the upper laced through the front joint and the lower through the back joint, with a hollow back, remnants of 2 pair of alum-tawed ties, manuscript title in black ink reading down the spine: "Brachilogia de princepes|Lisbon" with "J de Deos" added in an 18th-century italic type in black and "1671" in a 20th-century sans-serif type in red, dark brown headbands with the cores laced through the joints. With 2 woodcut decorated initials (2 series). Pages: [16], 299, [1 blank], [3], [1 blank] pp.

First edition, rare institutionally and in commerce, of one of the few sources on Franciscan missionary efforts in China, India, and South East Asia during the 16th and 17th centuries. The politically motivated chronicle stresses the leading role of the order, rather than the Jesuits, in spearheading the expansion of Portuguese religious and political influence in the region. WorldCat records copies in seven locations only, none of which are in Asia. "Jacinto de Deus is an important author, given the limited number of works printed by the Franciscans in the East" ("Brachilogia"). Born in Macao in 1612 to a Portuguese father and Chinese mother (Cecília da Cunha), he was ordained as a Franciscan in 1630 and served for the next five decades in Madre de Deus province, Goa. Vergel de plantas was completed in 1679 but only published after his death at Goa in 1681. It narrates the history of the order after its first representatives arrived in Goa in 1540 and describes the controversies surrounding the creation of Madre de Deus, in particular the absorption of Franciscan custodies in Macao and Malacca into the new province's administrative and governing purview. A lengthy section, representing pages 115 to 271, addresses interactions in China, beginning with the abortive mission of Pedro de Alfaro to Canton in 1579, which unsuccessfully tried to challenge the Jesuit monopoly over dealings with China and exploit the governor of Guangdong's perceived openness to dealings with foreigners. The China section also draws on material from the writings of the Jesuit Gabriel de Magalhães (1610-1677), providing a description of the Chinese empire. Two copies, with varying title pages, are held at the Portuguese National Library, and copies can also be found at the British Library, Yale, Harvard, Indiana, Minnesota, and Leiden. Cordier Indosinica 1952-3; Cordier Sinica 37-38. "Brachilogia de Princepes de Frei Jacinto de Deos", University of Macau Library, available online. Quarto (275 x 195 mm) in sixes, pp. [xii], 479. Ornamental woodcut initials, headpieces, and chalice motif on title page. Nineteenth-century calf, raised bands rolled in gilt, label lettered in gilt, compartments double-ruled in gilt with gilt central lozenges, gilt date at foot, boards with scrolling panel in blind, marbled endpapers, edges sprinkled red. Contemporary inscription on title page ("Pertence a Fr. Anto[nio] de N[ossa] S[eno]ra dos septe dores" - "Belongs to Friar Antonio of our Lady of the Seven Sorrows"); bookplate and shelf ticket of António Pereira da Nóbrega de Souza da Camara (1840-1918), whose 3,200-work library was auctioned in 1966. A little worming and marking to boards, tidemarks and worm trails at gutter of first leaves, couple of marginal losses and closed tears, text unaffected: a very good copy, presenting handsomely on the shelf.