Na Companhia dos Livros

The original title is Na Companhia dos Livros: Manuscritos e impressos nas missões jesuítas da Ásia Oriental 1540-1620. The Jesuits, more than any other early modern organization, were in close contact with books and with manuscripts, which were paramount to all aspects of their activities. The connections of the Society of Jesus with European and Asian written cultures were very intense, in terms of consumption and production of written texts, and are extremely well documented in European 16th and 17th century sources, thus providing a perfect subject for research. The chronological frame chosen for the present work (1540-1620) coincides with the historical moment when the Society of Jesus was testing a new method of cultural adaptation in China as well as in Japan, one that was particularly dependent on textual practices. The present research project, then, tried to identify: European books read by the Jesuits; books written by the Jesuits; European and Asian books translated by the Jesuits; books printed in China and in Japan by the Jesuits, in European and in Asian languages.