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Relacam geral do estado de christandade de Ethiopia; reduçam dos Scimaticos ... & do que de nouo socedo no descobrimeto do Thybet, a que chaman, gram Catayo.
Pinheiro, Lisbon 1628. First edition. Small 4to (190 x 130mm.), [2], 124 leaves, some browning and spotting, later vellum, morocco labels, slightly soiled, generally a nice copy.
One of the earliest descriptions of Tibet. Owing to its geographical inaccesibility, Tibet was long a terra incognita to European exploration, and in the absence of eyewitness accounts gave rise to the most extravagant myths. Although there are rumours of earlier visits, the first established entry was made by the Potuguese Jesuit Antonio Andrade in 1624. Andrade's description, written that same year (published 1626) originates a tradition of Potuguese ethnographic writing about Tibet which, in translation, was to provide Europeans with the first reliable information about the country. Da Viega (1566-1647), a Jesuit contemporary of Andrade, continues this tradition with an account of Andrade's heroic discovery of the country, the establishment of good relations with the government, and the founding of a mission in Tsaparang with the support of the reigning monarch. The work is an important historical document, since in providing an account of the Jesuits' disputations with the lamas, it reported some of the first ethnographic data on the native Tibetan religion and related customs to a European audience. DBS VIII, 530 no.2; Cordier Sinica 2901; Silva VI, p121.
Price: £ 8000
US Dollar Price: $ 11600
Stock Number: 45385