Relatio sepulturae magno Orientis apostolo S. Francisco Xaverio erectae in Insula Sanciano anno saeculari MDCC.

Local access dig. file [Relatio Sepvltvrae.pdf]
Signed: Gaspar Castner Soc. Iesu.
Reprint of the 1700 Macao edition. "Limited to two hundred copies." Stitch-bound in case.

"RELATIO SEPVLTVRAE MAGNO ORIENTIS APOSTOLO S. FRANCISCO XAUERIO ERECTAE IN INSULA SANCIANO ANNO SECULARI 1700. Peking 1700"

See Albert Chan, S.J., on the Jap-Sin editions of the Relatio sepulturae

References: Cf. Cordier, Bibliotheca Sinica, 1102-1103 ; Sommervogel, 2:853
Original (1700) edition at OCLC #3254546

"St. Francis Xavier, the first Jesuit to go to the Far East, died on the island of Shangchuan off the coast of China on 2 December 1552. Several months later his remains were brought to Malacca and then to Goa. From the beginning, the place of his burial on Shangchuan has been marked and venerated. In 1700 a special monument was erected over this place. The story of the construction and a description of the monument are contained in a small volume published the same year by the Jesuit Gaspar Castner. The work, one of the few European books published as a xylograph at that time, has been made available in a facsimile reprint edition issued by the Tenri Central Library, Japan, in 1977.
Chinese authorities are planning a restoration of this monument."--Note inserted "From the collections of the Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History"

LC name authority usage: Castner, Gaspar,1665-1709.

Editions:

1. Relatio sepulturae magno Orientis apostolo S. Francisco Xaverio erectae in insula Sanciano anno saeculari MDCC.
[Peking? : s.n., 1700]
32 double leaves : 2 maps, plans ; 23 cm.
Title from caption.
Author's name on last leaf of text.
Printed from wooden blocks on one side only of leaves folded in Chinese fashion.
Foliation in Chinese.
Cordier, H. Bibliotheca Sinica, 1102-1103
Backer-Sommervogel 2:853
OCLC# 3254546
Original edition held at DGU, hhg, NYP

2. Relatio sepulturae magno Orientis apostolo S. Francisco Xaverio erectae in Insula Sanciano anno saeculari MDCC.
[Tenri : Tenri Central Library, 1977]
30 double leaves, [2] double leaves of plates : ill. ; 23 cm.
Series: Classica Japonica. Section 11, Varia III ; 3
Caption title.
Reprint of the 1700 Macao ed.
"Limited to two hundred copies."
"St. Francis Xavier, the first Jesuit to go to the Far East, died on the island of Shangchuan off the coast of China on 2 December 1552. Several months later his remains were brought to Malacca and then to Goa. From the beginning, the place of his burial on Shangchuan has been marked and venerated. In 1700 a special monument was erected over this place. The story of the construction and a description of the monument are contained in a small volume published the same year by the Jesuit Gaspar Kastner. The work, one of the few European books published as a xylograph at that time, has been made available in a facsimile reprint edition issued by the Tenri Central Library, Japan, in 1977. Chinese authorities are planning a restoration of this monument."--Note inserted "From the collections of the Ricci Institute for Chinese-Western Cultural History"
LCCN: 79-387646
LC class: BX4700.F8 C32 1977
OCLC# 5831704

JapSin II, 171
Relatio Sepulturae Magno Orientis Apostolo S. Francisco Xaverio erectae in Insula Sanciano anno saeculari MDCC.
Text in Latin by Kaspar Castner (Pang Jiabin 龐嘉賓, zi 慕齋, 1665–1709).
White bamboo paper, one volume bound in Chinese style with a paper case. No date or place of publication. The book consists of thirty folios with two maps. The arabic numeration of folios 1–32 was added later.

The cover bears a Latin inscription: “Ro Pri Thyrso Gonzalez | Generali Prepto Societis Jesu | Carolus Turcotty.” At that time Carlo Giovanni Turcotti (Du Jialu 都加祿, zi 天受, 1643–1706) was visitator and this copy was presented to the General of the Society.

St. Francis Xavier came to the East in 1542. He died on Shangchuan Island 上川島 while making an attempt to enter China in the year 1552 (Jiajing 32). The following year a Portuguese merchant brought his remains to Goa. In 1640 the Jesuits of Macao erected a stone monument on the place where the body of the Saint had been buried. This roused the curiosity of the people of the nearby village who thought the Portuguese had hidden some treasure under the monument and they having dug up the place were disappointed to find nothing in it. In 1688, when Filippo-Felice Carrocci (Luo Feili 羅斐理, 1646–1695), seeking shelter from a storm, came to Shangchuan Island, he had the opportunity to re-erect the monument which had been found among the ruins. On 6 October 1698, a French merchantman, the Amphitrite, encountered a violent typhoon at Shangchuan Island. The safety of the ship was attributed to the invocation of St. Francis Xavier and in gratitude the crew contributed to build a church over the grave of the saint. In 1700, Turcotti and Giovanni Laureati (Li Guo’an 利國安, zi 若望, 1666–1727) strove for a mission house near the church.
This book gives a detailed account of the grave of St. Francis Xavier and the veneration paid to him. Indirectly it furnishes information on the geography of South China. The two maps given at the end of the book can be of considerable help in the study of the development of the Catholic missions in Southern China during the seventeenth-century.

Cf. Pfister, pp. 5–7 (St. François Xavier), pp. 394–395 (Mgr. Charles Turcotti), p. 414 (Philippe-Félix Carossi), pp. 486–488 (Gaspard Kastner), pp. 488–490 (Jean Laureati); Documenta Indica, vol. III, pp. 663–665; AHSI 34 (1965), p. 76; Jap-Sin 167, ff. 234–235v (Epist. P. Turcotti ad Gen. S.J., P. González Thyrso, Canton, 1.1.1700), ff. 279–280 (Epist. P. Turcotti ad P. Fran. Noel, Canton, 13.6.1700); Cordier, pp. 12–15; Cordier, BS 2:1102–1104; Paul Pelliot, “La Brevis Relatio,” T’oung Pao 23 (1924), p. 359, n. 1.

JapSin II, 171 D
Relatio sepulturae Magno Orientis Apostolo S. Francisco Xaverio erectae in Insula Sanciano anno saeculari MDCC.
The cover bears a Latin inscription: “Ro Pri Assistenti Germaniae | Socis Jesu ~ Carolus Turcotty.”
This is a duplicate copy of Jap-Sin II, 171, sent by Turcotti to the German Assistant.

Source: Albert Chan, S.J., Chinese Books and Documents in the Jesuit Archives, pp. 462-463.