Catechism in French and Malagasy

Étienne de Flacourt (1607–1660).
Petit catechisme avec les prieres du matin et du soir, que les missionnaires font & enseignent aux neophytes & cathecumenes de l'isle de Madagascar,
le tout en françois & en cette langue.
Paris: Georges Josse, 1657. (BRB0711)

The translation of catechisms and other doctrinal works was an important element in Roman Catholic missionary endeavors in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. This first edition of the first bilingual French and Malagasy catechism was created to instruct the native inhabitants of Madagascar, an island off the southeastern coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The engraved frontispiece portrait is of Francis Xavier (1506–1552), co-founder of the Society of Jesus and a pioneering missionary in Asia.