Vol. X, No, 2.] Fr. Jerome Xavier's Lives of the Apostles. 67 



[N.S.] 



dedicated to Akbar. 



7 



The Serampur MS. bears no date ; but we find that a copy 

 of the complete work was presented to Jahanglr in 1607. 

 "The King returning from the Kingdom of Ctbul to the City 

 of Labor, the Fathers, hearing of his arrival, went to meet 

 and welcome him two leagues out of the city. He receive 1 

 them with a mild countenance, and saluted them very lovingly. 

 Stopping his horse for some time, he embraced them after his 

 manner, by laying his hands on their shoulders, and asked them 

 familiarly how they were. They also saluted His Majesty's 

 children, and the chief personages of his suite, who returned 

 the salute. Hereupon, they offered to the King a book in 

 Persian, composed by them, of the life of the Apostles, with 

 several remarks on different passages of it, which they had 

 inserted, in confirmation of our faith, and in refutation of the 



sect of Mahomet." ' 



The passage Ave have just italicised was misunderstood by 

 du Jarric. Guerreiro, whom he follows throughout, notes that 

 the copy presented to Jahanglr was interleaved with a number 

 of paintings representing the Emperor's palaces, and that the 

 Emperor showed himself extremely pleased with the Fathers' 

 attention. " Apresentardo Ihe os Padres hu liuro em Parsio, q 

 tinhao ieito das vidas dos Apostolos, Co muitos registros de sens 

 passos antresachados nette, o qual mostrou estimar muito " * 



We may conclude from the foregoing to a chionological 

 error in the Bibliotheca Marsdeniana, p. 305 (cf. J. A. SB.. 

 1896, p. 113), where a copy of the Lives of the Apostles obtained 

 by Marsden is said to have been cl composed in- Persian, by P. 



v — — — •— - - j_ - »- 



Jeronimo Xavier of the C. of J. at Agrah, at the Court of the 

 Emperor Jahanglr in the year 1609." The date, if it was 

 correctly read, could mean only that a transcript of the work 

 was completed in 1609. 



Both the copy of the Bodleian and that of the National 

 Library of Paris are said to have been dedicated to Akbar. 



Mr. G Ranking's note about an incomplete copy once in 

 Akbar's library might be taken to prove that what had been 

 written until 1604, viz. 4 lives, was dedicated to Akbar. But. 

 what of the copies in the Bodleian and the National Library 

 of Paris ? If they contain all the lives of the Apostles, as we 

 suppose, we suspect a mistake in the description of them, 

 even though we are in presence of two different catalogues 

 describing two different copies. Our unpleasant experience of 

 library catalogues is that, when a book has once been described 

 in a catalogue, this description is generally transferred , mistakes 



1 Cf du Jarric Hutoire ,111. 113. 



2 Guerreiro, Relacam Annal de 606 & 607 Lisboa 



MDCIX f fol. 158 r. 



