Földvári Books

An Important Early Account of Ethiopia

Álvares, Francisco; Dawit II (Lebna Dengel; David)

[L’ambasciaria] Lambasciaria di David Re dell’ Etiopia al santißimo S. N. Clemente Papa VII. insieme con la obbedienza Al prefato sa[n]tißimo S. N. resa. L'Ambasciaria del medesimo David Re dell’ Etiopia ad Emanuel Re de Portugallo. Appresso, un’ altra Ambasciaria del medesmo David Re dell Etiopia à Gioanne Re de Portugallo. Alcune cose del Regno d’ Etiopia, & del Populo, & de lor costumi. (Privilegiato da Papa Clemente Maßimo Pontifi. che per sei mesi nessuno stampi il presente libretto, over el vendi sotto la pena d’ esc[m]municatione, e co[m] la perdita di diece ducati.)

In Bologna: per Giacobo Keymolen Alostese, nel mese de Martio, Anno 1533. First Italian edition. Later plain cardboard binding. [30] p. Coll.: A–D3. Restored throughout, especially at the gutters. Faded ink annotations, including an undecipherable longer note at the end. In fine condition.

An extremely scarce vernacular edition of the earliest documented account of Francisco Álvares’ embassy to the Ethiopian court, detailing Emperor Dawit II’s diplomatic appeals to Pope Clement VII and the kings of Portugal.

This work records the diplomatic exchanges between Emperor Dawit II (Lebna Dengel; David) of Ethiopia and European Christian rulers, particularly Pope Clement VII and the kings of Portugal. It highlights Ethiopia’s Christian heritage, struggles against Muslim powers, and requests for military and religious support. The book compiles official letters and reports, including correspondence from King João III of Portugal and his predecessors.

The primary source is Francisco Álvares (1465–1540), a Portuguese missionary and royal chaplain who spent six years at the Ethiopian court (1520–1526) as part of a Portuguese diplomatic mission. Álvares returned to Europe with the Ethiopian envoy Zagazabo, delivering Emperor Lebna Dengel’s letters to Pope Clement VII, Manuel I of Portugal, and João III of Portugal, which were formally presented at a consistory in Bologna on January 29, 1533.

Published amid growing European interest in Ethiopia as a Christian ally against Islamic expansion, the book reflects both historical realities and European myths, such as the legend of Prester John. It is part of the broader early modern effort to forge transcontinental Christian alliances, positioning Ethiopia as a crucial partner in the struggle against Muslim powers. The letters precede Álvares’s Verdadeira informação (1540) and represent the earliest record of his embassy.

The book is structured around key diplomatic documents, including letters from Dawit II affirming Ethiopia’s Christian identity, detailing its conflicts with Muslim adversaries, and appealing for European support. Correspondence between the Ethiopian and Portuguese courts underscores their alliance against Islamic expansion. The text also describes Ethiopia’s geography, society, and religious traditions, emphasizing its Solomonic lineage. The final section recounts the Ethiopian embassy’s reception in Europe, negotiations with the papacy, and theological discussions on doctrinal differences between the Ethiopian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. Ethiopian letters were translated into Latin and Portuguese for wider circulation.

The exact authorship is uncertain, but the book states that Paolo Giovio, the Renaissance historian, translated at least four letters from Portuguese into Latin and may have compiled the entire text. The book’s Ethiopian content is sourced from a Portuguese manuscript by Álvares.

The text opens with a depiction of Emperor Dawit and Ethiopia, followed by descriptions of neighboring peoples. It details the ceremonial rendering of obedience to Pope Clement VII in the presence of Emperor Charles V. Dom Martinho, Portugal’s ambassador, introduced Álvares as Ethiopia’s envoy, tasked with greeting the pope. Letters from Ethiopia and Portugal emphasized their shared Christian mission and Portugal’s role as an intermediary. The Ethiopian ambassador, Álvares, formally presented Dawit’s letters and a gold cross. The papal secretary read the letters aloud in Latin, followed by Álvares’ statement, translated from Portuguese.

The five letters in the book include those from João III to Clement VII, David to Manuel I, David to João III, and two letters from David to Clement VII.

This work was published by Giacomo Keymolen, also known as Jacobus Keymolen Alostensis, Jacob of Aalst, of Jacop van Keymolen, a Flemish printer who worked under Dirk Martens in Louvain for about a decade before entering Erasmus’ circle. In 1530, Conradus Goclenius sent him to Freiburg as a possible famulus for Erasmus, but by 1531, he had become a Greek teacher to Jacopo Canta before relocating to Italy to manage a press. (Adam 2020; Nauwelaerts 2003)

By late 1532, Keymolen was active as a printer in Bologna, though his career lasted only a few months. Between November 1532 and March 1533, he produced four known works. In February 1533, he published the Latin edition of this work under the title Legatio David Aethiopiae, followed by the present Italian version in March. His other publications include a Tabula of Justinian’s Institutes and De coena ac prandii portione by Luciano Bello. After leaving printing, he became a parish priest in Vlekkem (now Belgium), where he remained until his death in 1554. (De Brouwer 1961)

Although L’Ambasciaria was printed only once in March 1533, some bibliographers have mistakenly suggested a second edition appeared in 1535. This error likely stems from a misprint or defective type on the title page, causing the last digit of the date to be misread. The mistake was further reinforced by later references that repeated the incorrect date.

Keymolen’s privilege for printing the book—one of the earliest official privileges granted for a news-related publication (Petta 2015)—was issued on January 29, 1533, for six months, making a 1535 printing implausible. Furthermore, Clement VII, who granted the privilege, died in 1534 and was succeeded by Pope Paul III, meaning that a 1535 March edition would not only fall outside the privilege period but would also be incorrectly attributed to Clement. It is also improbable that two editions would have appeared exactly two years apart, especially given the absence of any other recorded works by Keymolen in the intervening period.

Francis Millet Rogers, in The Quest for Eastern Christians (pp. 192–193), catalogs known editions of the text and makes no mention of the alleged 1535 edition, further reinforcing the conclusion that it never existed

Adam, R. (2020). The first edition of Thomas More’s Utopia in Louvain, its printer Dirk Martens and the Erasmian network in early modern Europe: Exploring the role of a humanist network in a printing house in the Low Countries. In W. François, V. Soen, A. Dupont, & A. A. Robiglio (Eds.), Authority revisited: Towards Thomas More and Erasmus in 1516 (pp. 415-452). Brepols Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1484/M.LECTIO-EB.5.121287; De Brouwer, J. (1961). “De demografische evolutie van de bevolking in het Land van Aalst”. In Het Land van Aalst, 13(5) p. 266.; Nauwelaerts, M. (2003). Jacob of Aalst. In P. G. Bietenholz & T. B. Deutscher (Eds.), Contemporaries of Erasmus: A biographical register of the Renaissance and Reformation (Vols. 1–3). University of Toronto Press. p. 230; Petta, M. (2015). "Networks of Printers and the Dissemination of News: The Case of Milan in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries". In Specialist Markets in the Early Modern Book World. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004290228_005; Roger, W. (2020). The quest for Eastern Christians: Travels and rumor in the age of discovery. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Parsons Voyages to the East, 18 (for the Latin edition)

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Price: €25,000.00