First and only edition of the enlarged French translation, by Jean Vireau (1558-1638), procureur in Paris, of the highly interesting letters on the situation in Japan, written by the Jesuit missionaries in Japan to the General of the Jesuit Order in Rome, Mutius Vitelleschi (1563-1645) during the years 1625-1627. The letters contain, next to ample first-hand information on the Jesuit missions in Japan and the treatment of the Jesuits by the Japanese authorities, the martyr's deaths of many of the fellow missionaries, and fascinating stories on the Japanese empire itself, its customs, usages, daily life, travel facilities, etc.
The original edition in Italian was edited by Jean Jean Baptiste Bonelli (1589-1638), who also wrote the first letter from Macao: Lettere annue del Giappone de gli'anni MDCXXV. MDCXXVI. MDCXXVII. Al molto Rev. in Christo P. Mutio Vitelleschi Preposito generale della Compagnia di Giesu. 8vo. (Rome, Francesco Corbelletti, 1631; second edition: Rome & Milan, Filippo Ghisolfi, 1632).
Newly added to this French translation is the letter containing the history of the martyrdom of three Jesuits in Paraguay in 1628.,
Slight browing throughout, otherwise a fine copy. De Backer-Sommervogel, VIII, col. 834, cf. I, col. 711; Alt Japan Kat. 674; Cordier, Japonica, col. 315; Molossi, Memoire d'alcuni uomini illustri di Lodi (1776), pp. 134-6.