Scarce English edition of the map illustrating Pierre Francois X. Charlevoix's voyage to America in 1720, one of the most important early French Travel and Exploration works of the period.
The route taken by Charlevoix is marked on the map, as well as lines of longitude and latitude, compass rose, and names of countries.
Originally issued in Paris under the title Journal d'un voyage fait par ordre du roi dans l'Amérique septentrionale, Charlevoix's work is of tremendous importance First sent to America as part of a French survey of the historic boundaries of Acadia, a French North American colony recently lost to the British in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, Charlevoix sailed from La Rochelle in June 1720 and reached Quebec by the end of September. His knowledge of North America led to an extension of his assignment, under instructions to find a route to the "Western Sea" (i.e., the Pacific Ocean) but "still give the impression of being no more than a traveler or missionary.”
Having recently lost control of the Hudson Bay and lacking funds for a major expedition, the French Crown equipped Charlevoix with two canoes, eight experienced companions, and basic trading merchandise. From Quebec, he set out for the colony of Saint-Domingue via the Saint Lawrence River and the Great Lakes to Michilimackinac, where he made an excursion to the southern edge of Green Bay. He traveled along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, trying to reach the Illinois River from the Chicago, but the shallowness of the water forced him up the St. Joseph to the headwaters of the Theakiki, whose waters fall into the Illinois River. He traveled along the Illinois until he reached the Mississippi River in 1721, which he considered "the finest confluence in the world".
Visiting the Illinois Country along the way, Charlevoix traveled down the Mississippi to its mouth at the Gulf Coast. He embarked on a ship at New Orleans for the sail to the island of Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean, but it was wrecked at the entrance of the Bahama Channel. Charlevoix and his companions returned to the Mississippi River via following the coast of Florida.