Kurtze Nachricht von seiner Reise aus Ost-Indien nach Europa, insonderheit Dennemarck und Teutschland, wie auch von seiner noch am Ende dieses itzigen 1715ten Jahrs...andere Edition "Brief account of his journey from the East Indies to Europe-especially Denmark and Germany-as well as of his [activities/events] still at the end of this present year 1715... Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg Asian,Bible,Theology

4to (233 × 189 mm). pp. 24. Collation: A-C4. Text in German. Head-piece and decorative initial. Unopened, with deckle edges and wide margins preserved. Later plain paper wrapper (late-19th/early-20th c.), edges a little worn and chipped; rear cover soiled with a 2-inch tear at fore-edge; contents clean and crisp. The first Protestant missionary to India-on presswork, language, and the voyage home Second edition (first 1715) of Ziegenbalg's reflective letter written on his return voyage from Tranquebar (Oct. 1714-June 1715). With Heinrich Plütschau, Ziegenbalg (1682-1719) founded the first Protestant mission in India (arriving 9 July 1706). Plütschau served the Portuguese-speaking community; Ziegenbalg immersed himself in Tamil, establishing schools and producing a remarkable body of Tamil texts. Before a press could be installed (1713, from Halle), he had as many as a dozen copyists transcribe his tracts on palm leaves for circulation among Hindu and Muslim readers. His reports-sometimes uncomfortably sympathetic to local learning-made him the most accurate European observer of South Indian "pagan" traditions since Rogerius (Hudson). This letter surveys the aims of the mission, progress in schools and printing ("so that one could continue with the Malabar printing, I have left behind so many revised books..."), and experiences during the homeward voyage. He notes traveling with a Tamil pupil to keep up daily conversation "in Malabarish and Portuguese," and offers early remarks on African languages and evangelization after rounding the Cape. Scarce on the market. WorldCat records no North-American copies of the 1715 first edition and only two of this 1716 second (Yale; University of Chicago). References. Dharampal, Frühe deutsche Indien-Berichte (1984), p. 57; Hudson, "The First Protestant Mission to India," Sociological Bulletin 42 (1993), 37-42; Jeyaraj, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg (2006), p. 254; Lindemann, Medicine and Society in Early Modern Europe (2010), p. 257.