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Three Portuguese Shipwrecks in the 16th century.
Besides Peregrination by Fernão Mendes Pinto, these three narratives are considered among the masterpieces of Portuguese travel literature. Contained in this volume are the Shipwreck of the Conceição, lost on the shores of Pero de Banhos in 1555; the famous Loss of the big Galleon São João on the coast of Natal in 1552 relating the tragic end of captain Manoel de Sousa Sepúlveda and his wife Leonor; and the Shipwreck of the São Paulo which occurred in 1562 next to the island of Sumatra.
Preface by José Saramago, translated by George Le Gentil.
1992, second revised edition 1999, 224 p., 21,50 €.
By Richard Verstegan (1587)
Based on real facts Theatre of cruelty of heretics of our time is a 16th century annotated catalogue of tortures. Its author, Richard Verstegan, an English Catholic, has written several pamphlets denouncing the crimes of Protestants in England, France and Flanders. This text is part of the propaganda war of images, held between Catholics and Protestants during the wars of religion that bloodstained Europe
Text edited and annotated by Frank Lestringant.
1995, 42 illustrations, 208 p., 21,50 €.
Expeditions of Willem Barentsz (1594-1597)
At the end of the 16th century, the Dutch were trying to discover the passage through the North-East to reach China. Willem Barentsz made three unsuccessful attempts in 1594, 1595 and 1596. During the last journey, Barentsz and his companions discovered the archipelago of Spitzberg and the ice floe, before being caught by the ice in New-Zembel.
Preface, translation and notes by Xavier de Castro.
1996. Co-publication with UNESCO, 87 maps, engravings and other illustrations, index. 256 p., 26 €.
By Francesco Carletti (1594-1606)
This text narrates what is probably the first commercial circumnavigation around the globe made by a private person, using local means of transportation. It is considered the most beautiful travel narrative in Italian literature.
Introduction and notes by Paolo Carile, translation by Frédérique Verrier.
1999, maps and illustrations, index, 352 p., 24,50 €.
By Gomes Eanes de Zurara
The Chronicle of Guinea is the most important source on the discovery of the Occidental African coast, from Cape Bojador to Green Cape. Based on stories of Portuguese soldiers-sailors, it covers the years 1433-1448. The Chronicle is also a rare testimony of the mysterious and austere figure of Henry the Navigator (1394-1460), initiator of Portuguese maritime expansion. Finally, this text describes for the first time the encounter between Europeans and Moors of the Sahara, and the Natives of Guinea. Skirmishes, invasions and massacres serve as a prelude to trade in goods and slaves. These episodes reveal the Portuguese attitude towards their victims, a combination of ferocity and Christian compassion. The work assembles a great deal of information on the first residents of the Canaries, the extinct Guanches — as well as on the population of the islands of Madeira and the Azores.
Preface by Jacques Paviot, translation and notes by Léon Bourdon.
1994, 20 maps and color illustrations, index, 384 p.Out of print.
By Alvise Ca’ da Mosto (1455 & 1456)
In 1455, Venetian Alvise Ca’ da Mosto went on board a caravel of the infant Henry the Navigator to do trade along the African coasts. Two journeys lead him to the scarcely known coasts of Senegal and Gambia. On his way he discovered the islands of Green Cape. Combining landscape descriptions, adventures of navigation, and commentary on the day-to-day life of Berbers or blacks, this narration is the first known ethnographic "report".
Preface, translation, notes and commentary by Frédéric Verrier.
1994, co-publication with UNESCO, 30 maps and illustrations, index, 224 p., 18 €.
(Voyage of Eustache Delafosse) to the coasts of Guinea, Portugal and Spain (1479-1481)
Worthy of a picaresque novel, the narrative of Eustache Delafosse is one of the rare testimonies of Black Africa of the 15th century and Atlantic navigation on board caravels.
Preface by Théodore Monod, transcription, notes and commentary by Denis Escudier.
1992, 184 p., 20 €.
By Bartolomé de Las Casas (1552)
In 1552 in Seville, the Dominican Las Casas published this text, which is the most implacable denunciation of Spanish colonial violence. It is beautifully translated by the Protestant Jacques de Miggrode, under the manipulative title Tyranny and the cruelty of the Spanish (1579). The impact of the text was increased by the terrifying series of the engravings by Theodore de Bry —which we reproduce here for the first time.
Preface by Alain Milhou, iconographic analysis by Jean-Paul Duviols
1995, Second revised edition 2000, 21 engravings, 6 maps, 224 p., 23 €.
The singularities of Antarctic France (1557)
Taking a high interest in the manners, beliefs and activities of the autochthonous, and in the flora and fauna of the New World, this text is not only one of the first ethnographic monuments in this genre, but also a singular testimony of the alliance between the human vision of the world and the geography of the Discoveries.
Unabridged text edited, presented and annotated by Frank Lestringant.
1997, 30 original illustrations, index, 448 p., 27,50 €
Father António Vieira and the Rights of the Indians (1657)
The report of the mission to Ibiapaba is a passionate narrative on the natives of Brazil, their costumes and ways of living. But this text also reveals the way Europeans — mainly religious — considered the Indians. Like Las Casas, Vieira presumes to see, first of all, the human being in the savage. But does he really see the being in front of his eyes, or the one that lies in his imagination?
Preface by Eduardo Lourenço, translation and postscript by João Viegas.
1998, 240 p., 140 €.
Accounts of the 1497-1499 and the 1502-1503 expeditions
This volume assembles for the first time the eleven surviving testimonies from Vasco de Gama’s first two voyages to the Indies. This first maritime liaison between Europe and Asia, through the Cape of Good Hope, is, shortly following Columbus’ voyage, a major event in modern history.
Preface by Jean Aubin, translation and notes by Paul Teyssier and Paul Valentin
1995, second revised edition 1998, 52 maps and illustrations, including 16 in colors, index, 400 p., 30 €
On the contradictions of manners between Europeans and Japanese
In 1585, father Luís Fróis wrote this comparative description of Europeans and Japanese manners. A series of ethnological snapshots describing with humor all aspects of everyday life, it is also an exceptional modern literary exercise concerning men, women, children, religion, drinking and eating, weapons, horses, diseases, housing, ships, theatre and music.
Preface by José Manuel Garcia, translation by Xavier de Castro, notes and commentary by Robert Schrimpf. 1993, second revised edition 1994, 30 maps and illustrations, 192 p., 20 €.
To the Oriental Indies
"The voyage by Pyrard de Laval", the first French description of the Indies is a major classic of traveler literature, the French equivalent of the Portuguese Peregrination by Fernão Mendes Pinto. It is a highly important historical and anthropological account of the Oriental Indies of the time, as well as a rich source of information and anecdotes on Portuguese India.
Unabridged edition. Preface by Geneviève Bouchon, transcription and notes by Xavier de Castro.
1998, 96 maps and illustrations, including 32 in colors, index, 2 vol., 1024 p., 52 €.
The narrative of Jean Moquet (1607-1610).
Moquet interweaves cruel anecdotes of his peregrination, in Lisbon, Mozambique, and Goa, with a merciless account of the living conditions of people of the time, victims of the raging seas, wars and epidemics. The tribulations of the author serves as a mirror to the corruption of the body and the soul, the real "black legend" of the Portuguese empire.
Preface by Dejanirah Couto, transcription and notes by Xavier de Castro.
1996, second edition, annexes on the sieges of Mozambique (1607 and 1608), 40 maps ad illustrations, index, 240p. 23 €.
The first Jesuit narratives (1624-1635)
This book assembles six narratives of the first Europeans who penetrated Tibet. These Portuguese Jesuits, convinced they would find the "lost Christians" of the mythical Cathay, attempted to clime to the Roof of the World.
Text presented, translated and annotated by Hugues Didier.
1996, 45 maps and illustrations, index, 384 p., 29 €
(Terschelling’s shipwreck) on the coasts of Bengal (1661)
The narrative of Treschelling’s shipwreck and of its 32 survivors is a true descent into hell, with no ingredient missing, including the disintegration of the group, theft of putrid food, madness, temptation to murder and canibalism.
Translation and preface by Henja Vlaardingerbroek and Xavier de Castro.
1999, 40 maps and illustrations, index, 244 p., 23 €.
The account of Charles Dellon (1687)
During his stay in the Oriental Indies, Charles Dellon, a French doctor, was arrested for heresy by the Inquisition of Goa. Breaking the oath of secrecy required by the Tribunal, Dellon published in 1687 a description of the three years he had spent in the cells of this horrific institution. His account achieved an immediate and long lasting success in Europe, playing an important role in the struggle against intolerance at the time of the Enlightenment.
Preface, critical edition and notes by Anne Lima and Charles Amiel.
1997, 50 illustrations, index, 400 p., 27 €.
A manuscript by Antoine Galland (1678)
The translator of The Arabian Nights spent 15 years roaming around the Levant: Istanbul, Alep, Alexandria, Smyrna… The young scholar wrote in this city an account of his journey, entitled: Old and Modern Smyrna, unpublished until today. He draws up a vivid and scientific picture of this cosmopolitan city, studying the ruins of antiquity, as well as the manners of the autochthons, the presence of foreigners, the local institutions and their official representatives. This text is the most complete description we have of Smyrna in the 17th century.
Preface by André Miquel, transcription and notes by Frédéric Bauden.
2000, 40 illustrations, index, 400 p., 27,50 €.
The observations of Pierre Belon du Mans (1553)
The voyage of Pierre Belon to the Levant, launched in 1546, took place at the end of the Reign of Francois I, marked by the "scandalous alliance" with the Turkish Empire. The narrative, instigated by this experience, is an original work relating the interest of a Naturalist in the flora and fauna, and in the manners and costumes of the regions he was passing through. An inquisitive character himself, Belon is considered, like Guillaume Postel, as one of the major voyagers of the Renaissance.
Introduction and transcription by Alexandra Merle. 40 original illustrations.
2001, index, 400 p., 38 €.
(The shipwreck) on the coasts of Saint-Jean-de-Luz and Arcachon (1627)
On January 1627 an exceptional storm in the Bay of Biscay provoked one of the most terrible shipwrecks in the Portuguese naval history. Here, published for the first time, are rare testimonies, 14 barely known documents (letters, administrative documents, hand-written memoirs) and two accounts due to the celebrated 17th century Portuguese writer dom Francisco Manuel de Melo and by the galleon’s general, Manuel de Meneses.
Edited by Patrick Lizé and Jean-Yves Blot. Accounts of dom Frnacisco Manuel de Melo and of dom Manuel de Meneses translated by George Boivert.
2000, 256 p, 23 €.
By Ludovico di Varthema (1503-1508)
This book gained a considerable audience in its time, and was published several times. It is one of the texts, that allows a perfect understanding of how the discovery of new lands was portrayed in the European imaginary of that period.
Presentation by Geneviève Bouchon. Preface Jean Aubin, translation
by Paul Teyssier, notes by Luís Filipe Thomaz, Gille Tarabout, Paul teyssier
& Gérard Troupeau.
Co-publication with Fondation Gulbenkian, hardcover, 368 p. 2004. 29 €
The tribulations of Anthony Knivet (1591)
This work is a passionate testimony of Brazilian colonial society and of trade on the shores of the Atlantic banks. It is also a portrait of the Amerindian tribes distributed from North to South in the land, and finally, a narration of the discovery of the Sertão, mixing real geographical notions and dream-like descriptions of this peregrination.
Introduction, traslation and notes by Ilda Mendes dos Santos.
2003, 320 p. 25 €
(The Voyage to China) of father Adriano de las Cortes S. J. (1625)
At the beginning of the 17th century, the diplomatic expedition of a Jesuit father between Manilla and China turns sharply. The ship crashes on the coasts of South China. The expedition turns into a peregrination throughout the villages and the country-side of Canton and Fujian. This account, rich in information on everyday life developments, costumes and manners of Chinese people, is of great historic and anthropologic importance.
Introduction, translation and notes by Pascale Girard and Juliette Monbeig.
2001, 60 illustrations, index, 512 p., 32 €.
The Narrative of the first Voyage to the Indies (1497-1499)
Written by a man who personally took part in this first Voyage of Vasco de Gama. The narrative is commonly attributed to a certain Alvaro Velho.
Introduction and translation by Paul Teyssier.
1998, 124 p., 9 €.
Treaty on the contradictions and differences of manners
Prefaced by Claude Levi Strauss, the 600 paradoxical aphorisms of the Treatise of father Luís Fróis compare the manners of Japanese and Europeans in all aspects of everyday life, demonsrating carefully, with wit, humor and cheek that Japanese do everything exactly opposite to us!
Translation by Xavier de Castro.
1998, 96 p., 8 €.
La decouverte du Brésil
The first testimonies (1500-1549)
This volumes assembles the first nine testimonies of the discovery of Brazil: letters of Pêro Vaz de Caminha, and Master João; the king’s letter to the Holy See; accounts of the anonymous pilot, and of Paulmier de Gonneville, the Mundus Novus by Vespucci; the "ship’s log" of the Bretoa; the "gazette" of the land of Brazil; first lexicon of the Indian language…
Selection of texts and introduction by Ilda Mendes dos Santos.
2000, 192 p., 13,50 €.
5 essays by the historian Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi on Sephardic Jews, Marranos and New-Christians, after the expulsion from Spain in 1492 and the forced conversion in Portugal in 1497.
1. Sephardic Jewry between Cross and Crescent.
2. The Lisbon Massacre of 1506 and the royal image in the "Shevet Yehudha".
3. Spinoza’s words on the survival of the Jewish People.
4. Knowledge of Judaism and spiritual preparation of Marranos returning to Judaism in the 17th century.
5. Assimilation and Racial anti-Semitism: the Iberian and the German models.
Translations by Cyril Aslanov, Éric Vigne, Paul Teyssier and Jean Letrouit.
1998, 368 p., 27 €.
Refutation of Catholicism in Japan in the 17th century
The supercherie ("Deception Revealed") was written in 1636 in Japan, by Cristóvão Ferreira, ancient Portuguese Jesuit, who abjured, under torture, during the persecution of Christian missions planted in the Archipelago. The originality of this short and extremely dense text, consists on the fact that Ferreira, a man of great philosophical and theological culture, criticizes Catholicism from the inside, using as weapons biblical science, Averroist Aristotlism, Erasmianism, and Marranism.
Introduction and edition by Jacques Proust. Translation of Cristóvão Ferreira’s text by Marianne and Jacques Proust.
1998, 192 p., 18,50 €.
Les nouveaux-juifs d’Amsterdam
Essays on Social and Intellectual History of Sephardic Jewry in the 17th century, by Yosef Kaplan.
This book clearly describes and analyses the dynamics of the Jewish community of Amsterdam. It shows the extent of Jewish and Iberian centrality in the social and cultural world of these first modern Jews.
Translation by Jocelyne Hamon and Cyril Aslanov.
1999, 256 p., 23 €.
Consolation aux tribulations d’Israël by Samuel Usque
Published in Ferrara in 1553, under the printing press of Avraham Usque, the Consolations is a characteristic example of the conversos literature, torn between two Universes and cultural traditions: the Christian Iberian and the Jewish one. Written in exile, this text is mainly a portrait and a defense of Judaism in its intention, in its subjects, and its constant Biblical references. Its lyrical language, close to that of Camões, makes it also a masterpiece of Portuguese literature.
Translation by Liba Mucznik and Nicole Siganos. Preface and notes by Maurice Kriegel. Postface by Liba Mucznik.
To be published
Histoire d’Afrique Lusophone (History of Portuguese Africa)
By Armelle Enders
This work deals with 5 African countries in which Portuguese is still the official language: Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe.
1994, second revised edition 1998, 13 maps, 160 p., 13,50 €.
By Vladimir Monteiro
A complete panorama of the music of Cape Verde: morna, batuque, finaçon, tabanka, funana.
Preface by Jean-Yves Loude. 1998, 160 p., 18 €.
Contes traditionnels du Mozambique (traditional tales from Mozambique)
26 tales which were assembled in the years following the independence of Mozambique (1975)
Organization and introduction by Eduardo Medeiros ; collective translation reviewed by Michel Laban. 1999, 160 p., 18 €.
By Frédéric Mauro
Abridged vision of the history of Brazil.
Out of print
By Walnice Nogueira Galvão
Three essays on the annual event that has become one of the symbols of the city of Rio de Janeiro: The Carnival and the Samba schools; Searching for the origins; The Carnival song.
Translation by Ariane Witkowsky, 224 p., 19 €.
Saint Anthony’s Sermon on fishes by António Vieira
Pronounced in 1654 in Brazil, this sermon is the most famous text of the great Jesuit writer António Vieira (1608-1697). A true jewel of baroque literature.
Bilingual edition, preface by Hugues Didier. 1998, 114 p.,10,50 €.
By Albert-Alain Bourdon
A complete, concise and precise work, covering the entire history of Portugal up to the elections of December 1993.
1994, 192 p. 13 €
By Yves Léonard
Fighting in the name of anti-Fascism, is it true to consider Salazarism (the regime of António Salazar) as an attempt to imitate the regimes of Hitler and Mussolini.
Preface by Mário Soares. 1996, index, 224 p., 15 €.
By George Le Gentil and Robert Bréchon
A brilliant history of Portuguese literature from the 12th century until the death of Miguel Torga (1995).
1995, index, 288 p., 15 €.
Essays on Portuguese melancholy. By Eduardo Lourenço
Essays on the Saudade, the epitomie of Portuguese sensibility.
Translation by Annie de Faria. 1997, second edition 1998, 208 p., 18,50 €.
By Eça de Queiroz (1845-1900)
Jorge Luis Borges considered Eça de Queiroz as "one of the greatest writers of all times". The Maia, published in 1888, is undoubtedly Eça’s masterpiece. A tale of fatal passion, it is also an objective picture of manners and a virulent satire. This book, which, in its rhythm is stylistically reminiscent of English novels — luminous, touching and ironic - immortalizes the city of Lisbon in literature.
Introduction and translation by Paul Teyssier.
1997, copublication with UNESCO, second edition 2000, 800 p., 26 €.
(5 volumes of plays of the greatest classic Portuguese play writer from the 16th century)
This play, written in 1522, during a famine, is a monologue of a drunkard, lamenting that no tavern in Lisbon would serve her any wine.
Critic bilingual edition, introduction, translation and notes by Paul Teyssier.
Facsimile of original editions. 1995, 96 p., Out of print.
This play, written in 1529, is about May fair, an entertainment devoid of intrigues, combines dialogues, songs and music.
Bilingual critical edition, introduction, translation and notes by Paul Teyssier.
1997, 216 p., 11,50 €.
The "play of the Soul" is a morality play presenting the Soul, in the guise of a young girl, as prey to the seductions of the devil. The "play of the fair", a virulent satire of society, gives Gil Vicente the occasion to attack with vigor the corruption of the high clergy and of Rome.
Bilingual critical edition, introduction, translation and notes by Anne-Marie Quint.
1997, 224 p.,13,50 €.
A virulent social satire, presenting a gentleman as poor as he is pretentious, living it up at the expenses of all sorts of people he exploits with rare cynicism.
Bilingual critical edition, introduction, translation and notes by Olinda Kleiman.
1997, 160 p., 10,50 €.
Considered as one of the masterpieces of Gil Vicente, this morality play deals with the destiny of souls after death.
Bilingual critical edition, introduction, translation and notes by Paul Teyssier.
2000, 156 p., 11,50 €.
George Le Gentil
This study is a perfect introduction to the most illustrious Portuguese poet, Luís de Camões.
1995, 288 p.,15 €.
Luís de Camões, known for writing the most accomplished epic of the Renaissance, The Lusiadas, is also the author of an exceptional lyric work. His sonnets are considered to be among the most beautiful in the Portuguese language.
Translation by Anne-Marie Quint and Maryvonne Boudoy. 30 sonnets, bilingual edition.
1998, 96 p., 8€.
By Aquilino Ribeiro (1885-1963)
A Portuguese adaptation of the French Roman de Renart , illustrated by Benjamin Rabier.
Translation by Bernard Tissier and Diogo Quintela.
2000, 192 p., 20 €.
La Frontière by Pascal Quignard
Azulejos of the palace Fronteira
Photographs of the fascinating baroque azulejos (ceramic) of the palace of Fronteira in Lisbon, followed by Pascal Quignard’s short story La Frontière, evoking the enigmas of blue shadows, deciphering / interpreting them in a bloody tale of double revenge.
Postscript by José Meco on the history of the palace and its Azulejos. 60 photographs in color by Nicolas Sapieha and Paulo Cintra.
1992, 3rd edition 1998, 28x24cm, 150 p., 32 €.
Les Palais de Goa by Helder Carita
Models and Typology of Indian-Portuguese Civil Architecture
Goa, conquered in 1510 by Afonso de Albuquerque, was, until 1961 the capital of Portuguese Indies. The city was then a melting pot of civilizations, a meeting point for Europeans, Chinese, Arabs and all the people of the Indies. A unique architecture was born out of this mingling, in which the Indian and Muslim contributions transformed their occidental models. In this book, historian and architect Helder Carrita unravels these different influences.
232 photographs in color by Nicolas Sapieha, ancient documents, 45 plans by Helder Carita.
1996, 30x26 cm, 224 p., 58 €.