MAFFEI, Pe. Giovanni Pietro, S.J.- [...] HISTORIARVM INDI- | CARVM LIBRI XVI. | SELECTARVM ITEM EX INDIA | ...

MAFFEI, Pe. Giovanni Pietro, S.J.- [...] HISTORIARVM INDI- | CARVM LIBRI XVI. | SELECTARVM ITEM EX INDIA | Epistolarum eodem interprete Libri IIII. | ACCESSIT IGNATII LOIOLÆ VITA | postremo recognita. Et in opera singula copiosus Index.- Lvgdvni: Ex Officina Ivnctarvm, M. D. LXXXIX. [1589].- 688, [31, 1 b.] p.; 24 cm.- E., Giovanni Pietro Maffei (1533-1603), a Jesuit historian, born in Bergamo, was, for two centuries, the main biographer of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. At the invitation of Cardinal D. Henrique, he lived in Portugal, between 1579 and 1584, with the purpose of writing a history of the Portuguese missions in America, India and Japan; the result was his masterpiece originally published in Florence under the title “Historiarum Indicarum Libri XVI” (1588), which was to achieve great success, with numerous editions (and translations), of which this is the second. The first edition does not include the life of Saint Ignatius of Loyola, now published for the first time, occupying pp. 566 to 688. The pp. 403 to 556 are part of a set of letters from Jesuits from India that are presented with a separator and their own title: “Selectarum epistolarum ex India liber III”. Slightly cropped specimen, with a tidal stain in the upper half of the volume, fading progressively until disappearing in the second half of the volume. Good contemporary binding (or a little later), fully vieux rouge shagreen, with gold tooling à la Duseuil: triple fillet on the borders and in the central rectangle, with florets at the corners. At the centre of both covers, a large oval tool with a small reserve in which a heart pierced with an arrow is inserted, symbol of divine love, probably of a religious order (Franciscans?). Panels with gold tooling on the spine and gilt edges. Keeps the original marbled paper endpapers. Brunet, III, col. 1290. Borba de Moreas 508. Rodrigues, 1500. Sommervogel, V, 298.