The Library
1780 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
1601–1700
6 works
written to 1610; published 1615
Italian
Matteo Ricci · 1552–1610
An account of thirty years in China — learning the language, becoming a scholar in Chinese terms, the mathematics that opened doors, and the slow gathering of converts.
1627
Spanish
De Instauranda Aethiopum Salute
Alonso de Sandoval · 1576–1652
A study of African peoples, languages, and the conditions of the slave ships arriving at Cartagena, written by a priest who met each vessel.
1627
Latin
Hugo Grotius · 1583–1645
An apologetic written originally in Dutch verse for sailors, arguing the historical credibility of the gospels for readers who would meet Muslims and Jews on their voyages.
1632–1673
French
The Jesuits of New France
Annual reports from missionaries among the Huron, Iroquois, and Algonquian peoples, describing customs, languages, epidemics, torture, and their own deaths.
1654; letters to 1671
French
Marie of the Incarnation · 1599–1672
A widow who left her son to enter a convent, then sailed to Quebec to found a school, writing home about mystical states, Iroquois raids, and Algonquian grammar.
1671
English
John Eliot · 1604–1690
Model conversations for Native preachers to use with their own relatives, written to be practised — and giving the sceptical side arguments of real force.
41–46 of 46 matching · 1780 in the Library