Gois, Damião de | First edition account of Portuguese affairs by this Humanist diplomat

Gois, Damião de

Commentarrii Rerum Gestarum in India citra Gangem a Lusitanis anno 1538. Louvian: Ex Officina Rutger Rescius, 1539

4to (201 x 150 mm). Several leaves bound out of order, marginal dampstaining and light foxing throughout, small singe hole affecting margins of ten leaves. Half vellum over marbled boards.

First edition of these reports on India from within the Portuguese sphere of influence.

Providing detailed accounts of the siege of the Portuguese fortress of Diu in 1509 and the spice trade, the present work was translated from Latin into Italian in 1539, German in 1540, and into de Gois's native language of Portuguese in 1945.

As one of the most accomplished men of his age, de Gois's career as a diplomat, humanist, and musician reached various countries and notable figures (Martin Luther, Erasmus, and Albrecht Dürer, for example). Serving as secretary to the Portuguese factory at Antwerp, he met Cardinal Bembo, to whom two letters in Commentarri are addressed.

Arrested during the Inquisition in 1571, most likely under suspicion due to his cosmopolitan lifestyle, de Gois was pronounced a Lutheran heretic, excommunicated, and imprisoned at the Monastery of Batalha.

REFERENCES

Adams G819; British Museum, Pre-1601 Netherlands and Belgium STC, p. 86; Bell, Portuguese Literature, 213

PROVENANCE

William Gropp (bookplate to front pastedown) — [Antonio] Bonchristiano (bookplate to front pastedown)