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ANDRADE, Jacinto Freire de (1597-1657). Vida de Dom João de Castro quarto viso-rey da India . Lisbon: Craesbeeck, 1651.
ANDRADE, Jacinto Freire de (1597-1657). Vida de Dom João de Castro quarto viso-rey da India . Lisbon: Craesbeeck, 1651. 2° (276 x 190mm). Engraved additional title, engraved portrait, one full-page woodcut illustration. Cancel slip pasted over one word on Kk3r. (Occasional light spotting and browning, early leaves with minor repairs to corners, small repaired wormtrack to additional title, title and two preliminaries, light marginal dampstain from beginning to B1, marginal tear to Gg4 just extending into text, small corrosive ink stain to fore-edge.) Recent leather, gilt spine. Provenance : Italian ownership inscription at end dated 3 October, 1794. RARE FIRST EDITION, 'un des livres classiques de la langue Portugaise' (Brunet). João de Castro's appointment to the viceroyalty of India in 1547 was his reward for the bravery and military ability demonstrated in campaigns in Goa and India over the previous ten years. He held the position until his death only a year later. This occurred on 6 t h June 1548, in the arms of his friend St Francis Xavier, the pioneering Jesuit missionary and co-founder of the Jesuit order. Andrade's account remains the classic life of De Castro, as the number of translations and editions it has enjoyed testify (Pinto de Mattos identifies 14 subsequent editions in Portuguese before 1828). According to ABPC and JAP, only three copies have sold at auction since 1975. Atabey 462; BLSTC Spanish and Portuguese 1601-1700 309; Brunet I, 263; Pinto de Mattos p. 23: 'os exemplares desta edição, são raros e estimados'.