Copia di due lettere annue scritte dal Giapone del 1589. & 1590. L'una dal P. Viceprovinciale al P. Alessandro Valignano, l'altra dal P. Luigi Frois al P. Generale della Compagnia di Giesu. Et dalla Spagnuola nella Italiana lingua tradotte dal P. Gasparo Spitilli della Compagnia medesima. ... Con licentia de' superiori.Rome, Luigi Zanetti, 1593. Small 8vo (15 x 10.5 cm). Limp sheepskin parchment (ca. 1700?).

125, [3 blank] pp.First edition of an important Jesuit work, publishing for the first time the annual letters of 1589 and 1590 reporting on the situation in Japan, written by the Jesuit missionaries Alessandro Valignano in "Cansuca" (Katsusa in Kyushu) on 7 October 1589 (pp. 3-42), and Luís Fróis in Nagasaki on 12 October 1590 (pp. 43-125). They provide valuable information on the Jesuit missions in Japan and elsewhere in Asia as well as on the daily life, customs and political situation. This includes the establishment and development of Jesuit residences, churches and colleges, along with other activities, in Katsusa, Arima, Omura, Nagasaki, Bungo and many other cities and regions. Valignano wrote from the newly established Jesuit college at Katsusa, where in the following year he brought in a printing press from Macao and set up the first Jesuit printing office in Japan, publishing its first efforts in 1591.The Portuguese Jesuit missionary Luís Fróis (1532?-1597) joined the Jesuits and worked from 1548 at Goa, where he succeeded Gaspar Berse. His first attempt to reach Japan failed in 1554, but he finally succeeded in 1563 and became one of the first Europeans to gain a deep knowledge of Japan and its culture. With quires C and G slightly browned, a small marginal tear in C8 and occasional minor and mostly marginal foxing, but otherwise in very good condition. An essential source for Japan in the 1580s and especially its relations with Europe and the Jesuits: an eye-witness account by two of the best-informed Europeans on the subject of Japan.l Cordier, Japonica, col. 116; De Backer & Sommervogel VIII, col. 405, Valignano 5g; cf. Manel Ollé, "Jesuit portrayals of China between 1583-1590", in: Bulletin of Portuguese-Japanese studies XVI (2008), pp. 45-57; J.F. Schutte, Valignano's mission principles for Japan (1980).