Lettres Edifiantes.
Le Clerc, (publ).
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Book Id: 6597
Description
Le Clerc, (publ). Lettres Edifiantes et Curieuses ,Ecrites des Missions Etrangeres,par quelques Missionnaires de la Compagnie de Jesus. VI. Recueil. Paris: chez Nicholas le Clerc & P. G. Le Mercier,1706. 12mo, lxiv,[4],250,[6], folding map. Contemporary full calf, spine decorated in gilt. Covers well rubbed, sml. chip from top of spine and back cover, a very fresh copy inside. First Edition. The sixth volume of the 34 volumes that appeared between 1702 and 1776. Sabin provides a good account of the publishing history of these highly important compilations of reports sent back by Jesuit missionaries around the world. They include vivid accounts of the inhabitants of America, Asia and the South Seas particularly; and they are replete with lore on folkways, natural history and the incidental discoveries of the far-flung and often imperilled missionaries. Writing of a later edition,Thomas W. Field enthuses,"Every one of these volumes is crowded with interesting details for the history of the aborigines of the countries in which these wonderful men had their missions." This volume includes a good deal on China and India, as well as an extended account of the Caroline Islands in the South Seas, including one of the first maps of the Caroline Islands. The map extends from the Philippines to the Carolines and the Marianas Islands.
