MAGGIO F., "Syntagmaton Linguarum Orientalum quae in Georgian Regionibus Adviuntur. Liber Primus-[Secundus], Roma, 1670. Folio (34x24cm), pp.143+96. Two volumes in one. Text in Georgian and Latin. Contemporary vellum slightly browned and rubbed. Complete. Some pages with light browning or very few spotting, generally clean and overall a very good copy. 2nd edition of THE THIRD EVER PRINTED BOOK IN GEORGIAN, being the first printed grammar of the Georgian language (first edition in 1643). Printing in Georgian delayed considerably as this Christian country was isolated after the Turkish conquests. The first printed book that used the Georgian alphabet, a Georgian-Latin Dictionary, was published in Roma in 1629. A book with prayers followed. Totally, including this edition, only 4 prints (all in Roma) of 3 books with Georgian alphabet had been published in the 17th century (called the "Roman editions" and presenting the core of early Georgian printing). Francisco Maggio was a member of a Capucin missionaries team sent by the Pope in the early 17th century in Caucasus, within the frame of the Papal efforts to establish missions in the Levant. The team (Lamberti, Venerio, Maggio etc) travelled and stayed for several years in Georgia, bridging these isolated areas & civilizations with the Europe. Within this effort of approaching the westerns and the locals, a dictionary was considered essential. The missionaries had collaborated with Niceforo Irbach, an erudite Georgian, who was responsible for the type casting of the 36 letters of the Georgian alphabet. After the completion of the Dictionary in 1629 there was a need for a Grammar. This work, result of more than 10 years Maggios efforts, had the Royal patronage of King Teimouraz of Georgia. An influential & very rare book.