First Edition of this Superlative Rarity. One of the Greatest Books Relating to the Discovery and Exploration of North America.
Champlain's relation of his four voyages to America made between 1604 and 1613. The final voyage, which culminated with Champlain's return to Saint-Malo on August 26, was not mentioned on the title page, and was clearly inserted as a "stop-press," separately paginated addition.
The volume deals very fully with the natural history of the country, its soil and products, and is especially minute in its description of the manners, customs, and habits of the Indians. In this edition the text is much fuller than in that of 1632...[The large folding map] is rarely found with the work ... - Church.
The title translates into English as: The Voyages of the Sieur de Champlain Xaintongeois, divided into two books, or a very faithful Journal of observations made of the discoveries in New France, with descriptions of the lands, etc.; what is known of the Peoples, their Superstitions, manner of Living, and of Warfare, embellished with many engravings.
This book made manifest the mapping undertaken by the "first truly scientific cartographer of North America." The scientific exploration and mapping of New France began with the work of Samuel de Champlain, whose depictions of Northeastern North America are the most important and accurate 17th-century maps of the region. Champlain based his maps on his own discoveries in New France and New England in the early 1600s and published them to accompany the accounts of his voyages. His awareness of the recent English discoveries by Hudson and others to the North also allowed him to integrate, for the first time, the entire body of exploration in the region up to 1611.
Champlain's explorations were the first 17th-century travels to have a major effect on contemporary cartography, and they defined the direction of French explorations in the New World for the rest of the century. Champlain's Carte Geographique de la Nouvelle Franse, is the explorer's first significant map of the vast area. Champlain penetrated farther into the interior than any previous explorer, and the geographical discoveries that can be credited to him -- and that are recorded for the first time on the large map included in this volume -- are almost too numerous to name.
Champlain's maps are also credited with initiating the mapping of the Great Lakes, and they constitute the earliest accurate delineations of the New England coastline, preceding John Smith's map by several years. Champlain had explored this region in several voyages he made as official geographer and mapmaker to New France, and his large map reaches to 40 degrees, beyond Cape Cod and Long Island, although in fact, Champlain did not travel further south than the Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard region in his travels of 1605 and 1606 (the farthest south Champlain reached prior to publication of the maps). These discoveries preceded the important voyage by Captain John Smith and Adrian Block.
This is the second book published by Champlain, following his first publication covering his voyage of 1603, which was entitled: Des sauvages, ou Voyage de Samuel Champlain, de Brouage, fait en la France nouvelle l'an mil six cens trois. That book, which was published in Paris in 1603, is exceedingly rare and utterly unobtainable (even the indefatigable Dr. Siebert only managed to acquire the 1604 second edition of that title).
Justin Winsor wrote of this work:
It contains a full description of the coastline westerly from Canseau, including Nova Scotia, the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, and New England as far as the Vineyard Sound. It deals not only with the natural history, the fauna and flora, but with the character of the soil, its numerous products as well as the sinuosities and conformation of the shore, and is unusually minute in details touching the natives" - Narrative and Critical History of America.
The present volume includes the following maps, charts, and views (13 in the text), all copperplate engravings:
- Carte geographique de la Nouelle franse en son vray meridiein. Facing page 161 (folding). 255 x 335 mm. Burden 161.
- Chouacoit-R. 115 x 160 mm. Page 70 (in-text). Burden 166. 1 1/2 x 1/2 inch marginal paper loss, slightly affecting image.
- Isle de sainte Croix. 150 x 250 mm. Facing page 35 (folding). Burden 167.
- le Beau port. 150 x 245 mm. Facing page 119 (folding). Burden 168.
- le grand sautl st. louis. 115 x 165 mm. Page 293 (in-text). Burden 169.
- Malle Barre. 150 x 240 mm. Facing page 88 (folding). Burden 170.
- port au mouton. 110 x 160 mm. Page 17 (in-text). Burden 171.
- Port de la heue. 110 x 160 mm. Page 8 (in-text). Burden 172
- Port des mines. 110 x 160 mm. Page 26 (in-text). Burden 173.
- Por du Rossÿnol. 110 x 160 mm. Page 9 (in-text). Burden 174.
- port. fortuné. 150 x 240 mm. Facing page 132 (folding). Burden 175. Sheet tanned, old paper reinforcement on lower verso.
- port Royal. 150 x 245 mm. Facing page 23 (folding). Burden 176.
- Port St Louis. 105 x 145 mm. Page 80 (in-text). Burden 177.
- Quebec. 150 x 245 mm. Facing page 176 (folding). Burden 178.
- qui ni be quy. 115 x 160 mm. Page 64 (in-text). Burden 179.
- R du Saguenay/ B.port de tadoucac. 115 x 160 mm. Page 172 (in-text). Burden 180.
- R. st lehan. 120 x 160 mm. Page 30 (in-text). Burden 181.
The in-text views:
- habitasion de lile St le croix. Page 38.
- abitasion du port royal. Page 99. Worm track in upper right corner of engraving, with early restoration.
- Abitation. de Qvebecq. Page 187.
One woodcut technical diagram:
- Moyen de prendre la ligne Meridienne. 60 x 150 mm. Page 325 (in-text).
Lacking the following plates (all supplied in facsimile):
- [The French surprised by the Natives]. Facing page 137 (folding).
- [Defeat of the Iroquois by Champlain]. Facing page 232 (folding).
- [An Iroquois fort]. Facing page 255 (folding).
Carte geographique de la Nouelle franse en son vray meridiein.
The present book includes the highly important general map of eastern Canada and New England, described by Burden thusly:
This very rare map accompanies the second published work of Samuel de Champlain in 1613. Heidenreich and Dahl argue that it was almost certainly prepared the previous year. Champlain had been in France since September 1611. Accompanying this map in the book were a large two sheet map concentrating on the St. Lawrence River (see the previous entry for more background information), and numerous small charts. Although these were probably all the work of David Pelletier, this map quite clearly has a different engraver. The contents of the book vary and the larger map is often wanting. Probably after finishing the larger map Champlain acquired knowledge of Hudson's discovery of the Bay named after him. This would undoubtedly have been Hessel Gerritsz's work published in Amsterdam, 1612. Seeing the possibilities this could provide he had this map drawn up on a larger scale to incorporate the new bay.
Rarity
This book is of the utmost rarity and importance. In 2021, Freeman's Auction sold an example of the 1613 text, lacking the large map and another map, for $201,600.