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The visit of a Siamese embassy to Rome, during the Siamese revolution of 1688

[TACHARD, Guy].
[Drop-title:] Breve ragguaglio di quanto è accaduto in Roma à Sig: Mandarini venuti co[n] il P: Guido Tasciard della compagnia di Giesù, inviato straordinario dal rè di Siam dopo l'Udienza hauuta da N.S. Innocenzo XI.
(Colophon: Rome, Domenico Antonio Ercole, 1689). Small 4to (21.5 x 15.5 cm). With decorated woodcut initial on the first page. Disbound. 8 pp.
€ 3,800
Very rare first and only edition in the original Italian, of a pamphlet detailing the visit of the Siamese embassy to Rome, under de guidance of the Jesuit Guy Tachard, where they would meet with Pope Innocent XI.
The French Jesuit missionary Guy Tachard (1651-1712) was sent on two occasions to the Kingdom of Siam by Louis XIV, as part of an embassy to achieve a commercial agreement with King Narai of Siam. Its capital, Ayut'is, became a French Macao for merchants and missionaries from and to the further east. On his return from Siam in 1688, Tachard went to Rome in his capacity as ambassador of the King of Siam, carrying gifts and a letter from King Narai to Innocent XI. He was accompanied by Siamese mandarins and two catechists from Tongking. The mission from Siam was officially received by Pope Innocent on 23 December 1688 at a splendid public ceremony. They were unaware that Narai had meanwhile died and that during his final illness an anti-French mandarin had seized power, killed most of his family and married his daughter, taking the throne on Narais death. The revolution severed Siams ties with Europe, excepting only the Dutch.
First leaf detached. Browned, a minor water stain in the corner of the fore-edge margin and a white spot at the upper right corner of the first leaf caused by the removal of a location number. A very rare pamphlet on the Siamese embassy to Rome. Cordier, Indosinica, cols. 954-955; ICCU 037266 (5 copies); WorldCat (1 copy, the same); cf. Lach & Van Kley III, pp. 252-256.
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Related Subjects:

Asia  >  Southeast Asia
Europe  >  France, Greece & Italy
Religion & devotion  >  Jesuits