By Philippus Baldaeus (1632-1672)
1672 First Edition.

Philips Baelde or Philippus Baldaeus, was a Dutch minister. He went to Jaffna during the Dutch period in Ceylon with an invading Dutch force. As the second European after Abraham Rogerius, in his illustrated Description of the East Indian Countries of Malabar, Coromandel, Ceylon, etc. he documented the life, language and culture of the Tamil people, living in the north of the island. It was initially published in Dutch and German, while the English translation was published by the Ceylon Government Railway (1960).

He wrote much about the religious, civil and domestic conditions of the places he visited and introduced his account of the Hindu mythology. He translated the Lord's Prayer into the Tamil language, and although it had mistakes, it was remarkable as the first treatise printed in Europe of any Indian language. The book is dedicated to the bailiff Cornelis de Witt.
Baldaeus went back to Holland and preached until he died while still a young man.

208mm x 323mm x 56mm

R30,000