Edifying and curious letters

The edifying and curious Lettres form a broad collection of 34 volumes of letters sent in Europe by Jésuites missionaries in China, with the Raising, in India, America, and elsewhere. Published between 1702 and 1776, this collection made much to open Europe of the Renaissance (especially the France) to the non-European cultures.

Origin

So that the government of the Society of Jesus is based on good information, holy Ignace de Loyola establishes a system of correspondence by which any Jesuit having authority was to write to him regularly (Constitutions, N°674, 790). There were thus the annual Relations various missions, and the other letters addressed more personally to Ignace, with the tone definitely more cordial. The alive one of the saint some letters sent of India by saint François Xavier (January 1544, April 1552, etc) were in the beginning many vocations missionaries.

Development

the edifying aspect :

Like all work Apostolique, in Europe as well as missionary, depended on the generosity of benefactors it was important to inform them regularly on what was done with their gifts. There were then two types of letters, the Lettres of businesses which treated people and problems to be solved and the others which spoke about apostolic work, its development and its successes. The first of internal use and were intended strictly for the internal government of the Company, the others (edifying ) were copied and spread among the various friends, prelates, and benefactors. They had much success.

the aspect curious :

During the 16th century and the 17th century the voyages overseas (with commercial goal) multiplying between Europe and the other continents, especially America and Asia, a great curiosity developed that the merchants who did not have that episodical contacts with these `“new countries”' could not satisfy. The missionaries who lived there and had learned the language from it were good observers (because formed intellectually well) and could answer this request. To the edifying aspect their letters they added the curious . There are the sufferings of the missionaries, the joys of many baptisms, martyrdoms also. Is added in the same correspondence of true reports on the China, its mode of Gouvernement the characteristics of its language, its manners and habits. All that gave rise to the first European Sinologie and caused a true passion for '“the chinoiseries”' and all that came from the empire of the Medium. Other letter also circulated, which came from America, of Raising and of India but in fact the letters of China had the greatest repercussion. This enthusiasm pushed even the Father Jean-Baptiste Of the Dump - which of its life never left Paris - to write a Description of China entirely based on the received correspondence. It made authority.

Publication of the collection

Publications partial of letters took place during the 17th century (the very first printed letter was that of saint François Xavier to the students of Paris, in 1545). The father Charles Gobien, prosecutor in Paris of the missions Jesuits of China undertook to gather them and to publish them together. As the first volume (left in 1702) was very accepted, it published of them others at the rate/rhythm of one per annum (vol. I-VIII). It gave like titrates with the collection: Letters edifying and curious written foreign missions by some missionaries about the Society of Jesus . The father Jean-Baptiste Of the Dump took the changing and published (of 1709 to 1743) volumes IX to XXVI. Finally volumes XXVII to XXXIV were published by the Patouillet father, between 1749 and 1776.

Influences of the Letters

These publications played a central role in the opening and the evolution of the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment. The great minds of the time such as Voltaire and Montesquieu did not dry up praises for what the letters brought to them. Gottfried Leibniz spoke about the mission Jesuit in China like the greatest business of our time . By their precise objectivity, the diversity and the extent of the covered subjects and the depth of the reflection they deserve to be placed among the encyclopedic philosopher's stones of the Age of Enlightenment. They allowed a first relativisation of much manners and habits European.

Successive publications

Work was translated into all or partly into Spanish (16 vol.; 1753-57), Italian (18 vol.; 1825-29), German (7 vol.; 1726-61). For the English edition (2 vol.; 1743) John Lockman estimated good to withdraw from them the accounts of conversions and miracles because rather insipid and ridiculous with the eyes of the English readers, and in fact with any intelligent person and of good taste . New editions transfer the day during the 19th century, the letters being then arranged by area of origin. The last large edition complete is that of L. Aime-Martin, exit of press in 1838 and 1843.

References

Of the Dump, Jean-Baptiste, edifying and curious Letters… , (34 vol.), Paris, 1703-1776.
Clot, A., Beauty of the edifying and curious letters , Paris, 1838.
(Letters of China): Visor, Isabelle, Letters edifying and curious about China , Paris, 1979.
(Letters of News-France): Roustang, Francois, Jesuits of News-France , Paris, 1960.

External bonds

Examples of 3 letters

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