Francesco Giuseppe Bressani, 1653

BRESSANI, Francesco Giuseppe (1612-1672). Breve relatione d'alcune missioni de PP. della Compagnia di Giesu nella Nuova Francia. Macerata: Heirs of Agostino Grisei, 1653.

First edition of one of the rarest early accounts of the St. Lawrence, Great Lakes, and Upper Ohio Valley. Bressani was an Italian Jesuit who served as a missionary in Canada. "After spending two years with the Indians near Quebec, he was sent in 1644 to the Hurons, where he was captured by the Iroquois. He was ransomed by the Dutch and sent to France in the spring of 1645. He returned to this country and lived with the Hurons until 1650, when he returned to Italy and published this account of the missions in New France" (Church). His account of his captivity and ritual torture by the Iroquois is recorded here in an anonymous letter to Father Vimont, originally in the official Jesuit relation in 1645. Church 524; Sabin 7734.

Quarto (202 x 140mm). Additional leaf in gathering B. Woodcut device on title (some gatherings browned, p. 77 torn with tape repair). Early limp vellum (a few stains). Provenance: Jesuits of Bologna (inscription on title).