Books

Rare first Latin edition of this important early account of Ethiopia, containing a series of letters from Emperor Lebna Dengel to the Portuguese kings Manuel I and João III, and to Pope Clement VII. Preceding Álvares's Verdadeira informação (1540), the letters constitute the earliest record of his embassy to the Ethiopian court. The Portuguese missionary and explorer Francisco Álvares (1465-1540) was sent on a diplomatic mission to Ethiopia in 1515; the embassy arrived in 1520 and Álvares spent six years at the court of the Negus. Upon his return to Europe, he delivered the letters to the Portuguese kings in 1527 (together with the envoy Zagazabo) and to the Pope in 1533 in Bologna. In the text, Lebna Dengel declares loyalty to the Christian faith, and asks for military help against the invasion of the Ottomans. The letters were first published in Bologna in Latin and Italian. "The book explicitly states that Paolo Giovio translated at least four of the letters from Portuguese into Latin, and he may have been responsible for the entire text. The information on Ethiopia unquestionably derives from a large manuscript volume in Portuguese, divided into five books and compiled by Francisco Álvares" (Rogers, p. 148). A German translation was published in the same year. Rare in commerce, with only two copies listed in auction records in the past eighty years. Provenance: José Pinto Leite, Count of Penha Longa (1871-1956), with his armorial stamp on covers. READ MORE Quarto (183 x 137 mm): A-F4; 23 (of 24) leaves, unnumbered, without final blank F4. Late 19th-century red morocco by Chambolle-Duru, spine with raised bands, gilt lettering and elaborate decoration in compartments, covers triple-gilt ruled enclosing gilt armorial stamp of José Pinto Leite, Count of Penha Longa with motto "superabo," board edges and turn-ins richly gilt, French Curl on Nonpareil pattern marbled endpapers, edges gilt, green, red, and yellow silk bookmark. Paper residue from removed label on verso of front free endpaper, contents uniformly lightly browned, else clean. An attractively bound, well-margined copy. CNCE 64221. Francis Millet Rogers, The Quest for Eastern Christians, 1962.

Legatio David Aethiopiae regis, also known as Embassy to King David of Ethiopia, is an account of Francisco Álvares's travels to Ethiopia. It provides invaluable insights into the culture, geography, and politics of Ethiopia in the early 16th century.