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Abraham ROGERIUS

La Porte ouverte, pour parvenir à la connoissance du paganisme caché

Chez Jean Schipper, à Paris 1670, in-4 (18x23,5cm), (16) 371pp. (5), relié.

First edition of the French translation of Thomas Crane (the original was published in Dutch in 1651 and a German edition was printed in 1663), illustrated with a magisterial title frontispiece showing a dance ceremony on fire, three prints full screen and two mid-page (included in paging) and a folding plate consists of ten figures; these boards were made by Roger from his observations. Another edition was published the same year as The Theatre of idolatrerie, or The Open Door to reach the knowledge of the hidden paganism; the text is exactly the same.
Binding slightly later (probably ^XVIII) "cartonnage" speckled vellum way back with five nerves with two old handwritten labels library. Headdresses bowed slightly, the slightly slotted head and a little lack in upper flat tail joints. Tt slip connected after Tt ₂ and Tt ₃ Tt ₄ before.
A label "of Mr. January Flainville firm" and the bookplate of the Library of Baron de Caix St. Aymour glued on the first contreplat. dated 1767 handwritten notes regarding the purchase of the book on the back of the first guard.

rare and curious work on religious ceremonies and traditional witchcraft India, its author, "Protestant pastor, was embarked in 1640 for the East Indies, and remained tied almost six years as minister of the Gospel to the Dutch factorie of Palivent, on the Coromandel coast. He took advantage of his stay in this country so little known, to ascertain the purpose of the Hindus, and having had the pleasure of bonding with some Brahmins, he obtained valuable information on their belief and worship "(Caillet, Manuel bibliographic psychic or occult, 9560).

This is the first known book of the Brahmins, the bulk of the book is also dedicated to them. Another section is dedicated to "One hundred proverbs Payen Barthrovherri" Sanskrit poet. The last chapter entitled "China extract illustrated by the Rev. A. Kirchere (sic)" and shows the work of the latter also devoted to Brahmins. As highlighted Devika Vijayan ( "Gods monsters of India: the negation of art in the discourse of French travelers in the East Indies (seventeenth ^century)," Viatica) at the time of publication of the book, no author became interested in Hinduism:

"Roger was not wrong in these circumstances, to proclaim that he opened the doors of an unknown universe. His book is indeed rich new distinctions. He first discern the diversity of Shaiva sects and vichnouites, outlines the ten avatars of Vishnu god and present the Buddha as one of these avatars. It also recognizes that Hindus assert the sovereignty of a single God. It is also in The Open Door Roger iconography begins to take a distinctly Hindu color, as shown in the frontispiece, which reveals an effort by the designer to provide readers with a comprehensive picture of Hinduism, its religious customs and performances of his deities. At the top of the illustration is an Indian temple flanked by two Hindu deities, one of them being the elephant god Ganesh. Downstairs is represented party Jagannath. The statue of the god is placed on a trolley and the machine is in turn driven by the pilgrims. Unlike the usual posture of old travelers, the description of the gods is devoid of adjectives. Roger tends rather to observe, describe and refrain from judgment. "

The researcher is also interested in Jesuit Athanasius Kircher, including Roger gets an extract of the book:

"Equally known in his time Roger Abraham, the Jesuit Athanasius Kircher, in his China illustrata written in Latin, also deals with India as from Japan, but he has never visited these countries. The French translation appeared in 1670 in Amsterdam. It is undeniable that Kircher despised Indian paganism, but we look at it as an attempt to understand Hinduism without continuing to a simple description ridicule practices. It makes an attempt of comparative religion between Hinduism and Christianity and began a discussion of the philosophy of the Hindus "
Beautiful copy of this rare book, the first to raise the Brahmins and their rituals.

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