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Augsburg and Graz, Philipp, Martin and heirs of Johann Veith 1726-1735. Folio. Parts 1-24 (of 40) in 3 vols. With 2 (of 3) engr. frontispieces, With tables and text illus. 24 partly folded engr. maps and 14 plates. Contemporary calf (2) and contemp. pigskin over wooden boards, with metal clasps. - 2 old library stamps, old ms. exlibris, some wormholes, otherwise a very good copy, seldom found complete. "Der Neue Welt-Bott (1728-1761)." First and only edition in German of an important collection of letters relating to the Jesuit missions. Present are the first 24 parts in 3 volumes (Stöcklein died in 1733 after completing the first 24 parts), parts 25-38, a continuation, were printed later in Vienna by Leopold Johann Kaliwoda. "This work which was issued in parts was, to some extent, as stated in the title, a German translation of the "Lettres édifiantes et curieuses" of the Jesuit missionaries, (.) but much additional material from manuscript sources is also included" (Sabin). Father Joseph Stöcklein, priest and Jesuit mission historian (1676-1733) is best known for his writings, especially for this present work, a compilation of reports from Jesuit missionaries in the East Indies, North- and South America, European and Non European countries (incl. Turkey, a.o.) and overseas lands as Africa, China, Korea, Japan, the Marianas, Carolines, Philippines, etc. One plate shows a map of Nagasaki (vol. 1, part 5, no. 98). Most remarkable are the maps to be found, for example in vol. 1, part 2, no. 54 is Eusebio Kino's (1645-1711) famous engraved map "Via terrestris in Californiam". Father Kino proved that California was not an island, a myth that had endured for almost a century. - Part 5, no. 110 has a highly detailed map by the Bohemian Jesuit Samuel which shows the source of the Amazon in the Andes. Part 6, no. 34 shows a map of Formosa, which is based on earlier maps. This map includes a well-defined western coastline, but no real eastern coastline. - Brunet V, 547 ("se trouve rarement complète"); De Backer-S. VII, 1584,4; Carayon 523; Sabin 91981; Cordier, Bibl. Jap. 127; Cordier, Bibl. Sinica 941; Bibliogr. Alt-Japan-Katalog 1441; Walter, L. Japan, illus. 95.