Histoire orientale, des grans progres de l’Eglise Cathol. Apost. & Rom. en la reduction des anciens Chrestiens, dits de S. Thomas, … (1609)

Histoire orientale, des grans progres de l’Eglise Cathol. Apost. & Rom. en la reduction des anciens Chrestiens, dits de S. Thomas, de plusieurs autres Schuismatiques & Heretiques a l’union de la vraye Eglise. Conuersion encor des Mahometains, Mores & Payens. Par les bons deuoirs du R. me. & Illust. me. S.r. Don Alexis de Meneses, de l’Ordre des Ermites de S. Augustin, Archeuesque de Goa, & Primat en tout l’Orient. Composée en langue Portugaise par le R. P. F. Antoine Gouea, & puis mise en Espagnol par venerable P. F. François Munoz, & tournée en François par F. Iean-Baptiste de Glen, Docteur en Theologie, tous Religieux du mesme Ordre. A Bruxelles: par Rutger Velpius, Imprimeur juré, à l’Aigle d’or, pres de la Court, 1609, [42+] 748 p.

Note: First French edition of António de Gouvea’s account Jornada do Arcebispo de Goa Dom Frey Aleixo de Menezes, first published in Portuguese in Coimbra, 1606. It details the Jesuit-Portuguese success in aligning the St. Thomas Christians of Malabar with the Latin Church, which was related to the trade struggles in the 16th and early 17th century between the Portuguese and their European and Indian rivals. The original Portuguese text was translated into French by Jean Baptiste de Glen (1552-1613), an Augustinian theologian. There are two issues of this edition with two different imprints: one published by J. Verdussen in Antwerp, and one (our copy) published in Brussels by R. Velpius. The text was also translated into Spanish by Francois Munoz, but remained in manuscript.