MANUEL I, D. (Rei de Portugal).- EPISTOLA | Potentissimi ac inuictissimi Ema | nuelis Regis portugaliæ & Algarbiorum, | &c. De Victoriis habitis in India | & Malacha. Ad . S . in Christo Patrem & | Dñm nostrum Dñm Leonem . X. | Pont. Maximum. | [gravura xilográfica com as armas de Portugal].- Romæ: impressa per Iacobum Mazochium, [9 de Agosto do] 1513.- [6] f.; 21 cm.- E. Very rare original edition of an important letter addressed by King D. Manuel I to Pope Leo proudly announcing the recent successes of Afonso de Albuquerque (1453-1515) in India and the East Indies, with particular emphasis on the conquest of Malacca in 1511. The small leaflet consists of a single section with six leaves (A6 signatures), with 11 printed pages (the last one blank) and the following colophon at the end: Romæ printed per Iacobum Mazochium .9. Augusti. A second edition of this same epistle was published in Vienna, Austria, on September 16th (just 36 days after the first), by the printers Hieronymus Vietor & Johannes Singriener. The copy, slightly cropped, but very clean, has a small central flaw on the title page, repaired on the back, without loss of support; the same flaw, with less extension, is repeated in the next leaf. Full blue morocco binding, probably from the 20th century, signed: Bound by Zaehnsdorf. London. England. (workshop active between 1842 and 1947). Covers with triple square fillet and the Manueline coat of arms, in the centre, gold engraved; gold stipple on the thickness of the boards and gilt edges. The rear board has a pocket, possibly for storing a document, but it is empty. We are not aware of the existence of any copy in mainland Portuguese libraries (public or private), having only found two copies of the same edition in the Public Library and Regional Archive of Ponta Delgada (quotas: Safe 110 RES and JC/ AR.2 A/390 RES), the second of which belongs to the José do Canto Collection. Library of Congress (for the only copy referenced outside Portugal), DP605. M357 1513.