Relazione del viaggio dell'isola di Tenarif nelle Canarie fino a Pondiceri nella costa di Coromandel.
4to (24 x 18 cm). [6], 25 pp., with 7 folding tables of the navigational log. Bound in contemporary vellum. Excellent. Rare first edition description of the author’s voyage from Tenerife to Pondicherry in India, surrounding the Cape of Good Hope, with a stop at the Island of Reunion (Bourbon). Tournon includes interesting information regarding his use of a long-view to observe the different ships encountered as well as whales and other fish. Also included is a description of the “crossing the line” ceremony for sailors crossing the Equator the first time. Appointed legate a latere in 1701, Tournon was enjoined, along with the usual supervisory duties, to strictly enforce the ban against toleration of the Malabar rites, one of the frequent compromises with orthodox Catholicism made by Jesuit missionaries to render conversion more palatable to natives. He left Europe in February 1703 and arrived in Pondicherry six months later. Posted to China soon after, Tournon died in prison in Macao, shortly after learning that he had been elected Cardinal. His death caused a tremendous shock, occupying, in the words of the great chronicler Saint Simon, “tout l’Europe”. The tables give a detailed navigational log of Tournon’s voyage, from May 1 to November 4, 1703, an unusual feature in such relations, perhaps owing to the novelty of the route traversed.
* * Catholic Encyclopedia XV.l; NBG XLV. 545-6.
Price: $2,950.00