First edition of an account of the Jesuit Mission in Syria, with a description of the region & peopl 1660

Joseph Besson

CartaCarta fatta a manoPelle
Attualmente non disponibile tramite Gallerease

• A proposito di opere d'arte
  La Syrie Sainte. Ou la mission de Jesus et des peres de la compagnie de Jesus en Syrie.
  Paris, Jean Henault, 1660. 2 parts in 1 volume. 8vo.
  With a folding engraved map of Syria (including Lebanon, eastern Cyprus, and Palestine as far south as Gaza and the Dead Sea), with an inset map of the Lebanese coast from Beirut to Lebanese Tripo. Contemporary mottled tanned sheepskin, with gold-tooled fillets on the spine and boards.
  
  First (and only early French) edition of an account of the Jesuit mission in Syria, along with a description of Syria in general, by the French Jesuit Joseph Besson (1610-1691). He covers much more territory than the modern "Syria", including the whole of Lebanon and much of Palestine, so that there is, for example, a chapter on the churches of Jerusalem. The second part also includes travels in other parts of the Middle East. Before Bresson travelled through Syria, Persia and Arabia, he was rector at Nimes and taught rhetoric and philosophy. The first part specifically recounts the establishment, development and progress of the Jesuit mission in Syria. The second part (with a drop-title and its own pagination) describes the holy and sacred sites Bresson visited. It gives a very detailed and interesting description of Syria and of the various customs and habits of the Druse, Maronite, Armenian (Catholic and Apostolic), Turkish, Jewish and other people there. With the author's five-page dedicatory letter to Queen of Poland (Maria Ludwika), whose husband King Jan Casimir II had joined the Jesuit order in 1641.
  The binding has been restored at the head and foot of the spine, but appears to retain the original headbands. The mottling has caused some surface damage, but the binding remains structurally sound. With a water stain on lower outside corner in the second half, not reaching the text, and a stain along a repaired tear in the map, but still a good copy.
  De Backer & Sommervogel 1412; Chadenat 756.
• A proposito di opere artista
  Joseph Besson (1610, Carpentras – 1691, Aleppo) entrò nella Compagnia di Gesù nel 1626 e fu rettore del Collège de Nîmes, dove insegnò retorica e filosofia. Arrivò come missionario gesuita a Sidone nell'aprile 1659. Besson iniziò subito a scrivere dei suoi compagni missionari e degli abitanti della Siria. Ciò ha portato nel 1660 nel suo libro La Syrie Sainte; ou la mission de Jésus et des pères de la Compagnie de Jésus en Syrie (La Santa Siria; ovvero la missione di Gesù e dei Padri della Compagnia di Gesù in Siria), due parti in un volume. Besson copre nelle sue descrizioni molto più territorio della Siria moderna: l'intero Libano e gran parte della Palestina. La prima parte racconta i preparativi ei progressi della missione dei gesuiti in Siria. La seconda parte descrive i luoghi santi. Dà una descrizione molto vivida e dettagliata della Siria e dei costumi dei drusi, maroniti, armeni, turchi, ebrei e altri popoli lì.