[Collection of manuscript anti-Rites oaths, from the years 1746-1767].

[MANUSCRIPT - CHINESE RITES CONTROVERY - Lourenço de SANTA MARIA E MELO et al].

Published by [Goa?,, 1746

About this Item

Highly important collection of 19 ecclesiastical manuscript documents from the mid-18th century, relating to the Chinese Rites Controversy. The first nine bear the signature and papered seal of Lourenço de Santa Maria e Melo (1704-1783), Archbishop of Goa from 1741 to 1750, and are signed by more than three hundred missionaries, who thereby renounced the Chinese rites. As these missionaries included Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans, Jesuits, and even several Chinese converts, the present collection forms an important record of those working in the oriental missions. The Papal Bulls of 1715 and 1742 condemned the so-called Chinese rites, an accommodation of Catholicism to Chinese customs and Confucian practice that was developed during the early years of the Jesuit mission to East Asia and is associated especially with the missionary work of Matteo Ricci (1552-1610). The controversy is almost as old as the Chinese rites themselves, as Dominican and Franciscan missionaries reported critically on the Jesuit practices to Rome as soon as they set foot in China. A first condemnation was decreed by Pope Clement XI in 1704 that was followed by the aforementioned Papal Bulls, with "Ex Quo Singulari", issued by Benedict XIV in 1742, demanding all missionaries in the region to take an oath renouncing the practice of Chinese rites. The present work contains the signatures of hundreds of missionaries who did so, and also includes several versions of the text of the oath itself.The present collection opens with a late eighteenth or early nineteenth century manuscript in Italian, describing the contents of the first 9 documents, which are mostly 4 or 5 pages in length and bear the seal and signature of the Archbishop of Goa. They are all dated 1746 and are oaths of adherence to the ban on Chinese rites. The remaining 10 documents, each between 1 and 4 pages in length, are the original anti-Rites oaths and, in several cases, statements of Roman Catholic belief, made between 1760 and 1767 by various Chinese Jesuits and Jesuit missionaries in Asia, each written in their own hand and with the full signatures of the individuals concerned.The present work comes from of the library of the infamous Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), a British book collector who amassed the largest collection of manuscripts from the 19th century. It is bound in the brown paper boards typically used by his own Middle Hill Press (1818-1872), and includes his collection number. His library was sold after his death. A large portion of it, including the present manuscript, was acquired by antiquarian booksellers Philip and Lionel Robinson. After retirement, they brought their collection to Sotheby's, where the present manuscript was auctioned in 1988 during the second part of the Library of Philip Robinson sale.With a paper shelf mark label (22803) from the collection of Sir Thomas Phillipps mounted at the foot of the spine, and that same number written in pencil on the inside of the front board. The spine is detached, but still present, the boards are browned and somewhat stained. The documents themselves are lightly foxed, but otherwise in very good condition.l Phillipps 22803. 19th-century brown paper boards from Thomas Phillipps' Middle Hill Press, with the manuscript title on the spine. The work is housed in a clamshell box of gold-tooled quarter brown calf, with a red morocco title label on the spine, yellow cloth sides, and a brown paper lining. With 19 manuscript documents (18 in Latin, 1 in Italian) in different sizes, some with a papered seal. Pages: [51] ll.

Seller Inventory # ABC_49590

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [Collection of manuscript anti-Rites oaths, from the years 1746-1767].
• Publisher: [Goa?,
• Publication Date: 1746
• Binding: Hardcover
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)