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First edition of one of the best descriptions of Indian life in Canada, greatly contributing to the image Europeans had of North America in the 18th century

LAHONTAN, Louis-Armand de LOM d'Acre, Baron de.
Nouveaux voyages de Mr. Le Baron de Lahontan, dans l'Amerique Septentrionale, qui contiennent une rélation des différens peuples qui y habitent; la nature de leur gouvernement; leur commerce, leurs coutumes, leur religion, & leur maniere de faire la guerre.

Titles printed in red and black; with two full-page engraved emblematical plates ('Orbis Patria' and 'Et leges et sceptra terit') bound in front of both parts, 2 large folding maps of 575 x 415 and 680 x 290 mm. of Northern America (Canada), and 23 engraved maps & plates illustrating the life of the Indians and the animals of Northern America.

The Hague, Freres l'Honoré, 1703. 2 parts in 1 vol. 12mo. Contemporary brown panelled calf with gilt lettering on ribbed spine, gilt binding edges, marbled and gilt endpapers. Titles printed in red and black; with two full-page engraved emblematical plates ('Orbis Patria' and 'Et leges et sceptra terit') bound in front of both parts, 2 large folding maps of 575 x 415 and 680 x 290 mm. of Northern America (Canada), and 23 engraved maps & plates illustrating the life of the Indians and the animals of Northern America. (22), 279; 220, (16) pp.

Rare first edition by Louis-Armand de Lom d'Ares, Baron de Lahontan, writer, adventurer and explorer (1666-before 1716). Lahontan was sent to New France (Canada) in 1683, in one of three companies of French marines, the Bourbon Regiment, sent by Louis XIV to help the French governor, La Barre, defeat the Great Lakes Iroquois. In the year 1684 he was sent to Lake Ontario on an expedition against the Iroquois, which failed due to the number of men who became ill from malaria. After serving for a time in western Canada, he returned to the East coast in 1688, travelling extensively in the Wisconsin and Minnesota region and the upper Mississippi Valley.
La Barre was forced to an ignominious peace, which soon led to his recall as governor of the colony. La Barre was replaced by the Marquis Denonville. In the mean time, Lahontan was learning the local languages in New France and becoming adept in wilderness survival.
Lahontan accompanied Denonville in 1687 on another expedition that did little but alienate the American Indian population, and was later sent west with Sieur Duluth and Henri de Tonti. He was given command of the fort at St. Joseph on the St. Clair River above Detroit, near the present site of Port Huron, Michigan. In 1688 he joined a party of Chippewa Indians in a raid on the Iroquois and later abandoned his fort and went to Michilimackinac. During the following winter he explored the upper Mississippi valley where he allegedly discovered the 'Longue River'. In the summer of 1689 he returned to Montreal to await the arrival of the new governor, Count de Frontenac.
In the spring of 1690, Frontenac sent Lahontan back to France with news of the defeat of the English fleet. He was promoted to captain in his corps and was made a chevalier of the order of Notre Dame of Monte-Carmel and of St. Lazarre. He also found that by this time his estate was beyond help. By September of 1691, he was back in Quebec at the court of his friend Frontenac. There he met and courted a Canadian girl, but decided not to marry her, preferring adventure over the stability of marriage.
In 1692 Lahontan developed a plan for defending Canada against the Iroquois, and Frontenac again sent him to France, this time to present his plan at court. During this voyage, the ship stopped at Plaisance (now Placentia) in Newfoundland, where he helped French forces repulse a force of five British frigates. Carrying the news of this latest French victory to France, he was rewarded with the command of one hundred men and a promotion to lieutenant. However, the king refused to consider his plan for defending Canada which required the use of many men, deciding that it would be too expensive.
Returning to Canada and its new governor, De Brouillon, Lahontan found himself in a dangerous political situation, and in 1693 he deserted the French military and returned to Europe. Exiled from his homeland, he was wandering from Portugal to Holland, Hamburg, Copenhagen, and Spain for many years.
Lahontan was a restless commander and spent much of his time exploring the region. He also quickly learned the Indian languages and became adept in wilderness survival.
He returned to Europe and eventually settled in Holland where he found favor with the Elector of Hanover. There he wrote this enormously popular travelogue, in which he embellished his knowledge of the geography of the Great Lakes region and created several fictions, evidently in an attempt to bolster the popular appeal of the book. He invented the tale of the discovery of the 'Longue River' that stretched from the Mississippi to a great range of mountains in the west. He depicted a short pass through the mountains from which another river flowed (presumably) into the Pacific.
He included also accounts of Indian tribes who lived on islands in a great lake near the source of the river, and tales of crocodiles filling the waterways.
The second volume has the title 'Memoires de l'Amerique septentrionale, ou la suite des voyages de Mr. Le Baron de Lahontan … Avec un petit dictionnaire de la langue du païs (= pp. 195-220) (The Hague, Frères l'Honoré, 1703).

In 1703 the book was an immediate success and became a bestseller. Over twenty editions were published between 1703 and 1741, including editions in French, English, Dutch and German. The book, supplemented in 1704 with a third vol., was extremely controversial and immediately brought charges from several critics as to the legitimacy of his discoveries. Even so, it was to influence the cartography of North America for the next 100 years. The immense popularity of the book resulted in his distorted cartography being accepted by several eminent cartographers who incorporated the 'Lahontan' concepts into most of the maps of the 18th century. Variations of the "Longue River" were incorporated into the maps of such respected cartographers as Herman Moll, John Senex, Guillaume de L'Isle and others. The theory was finally laid to rest with the discoveries of Lewis and Clark.
The book made him famous in Europe. The readers enjoyed the descriptions of his life in the wilderness and cynicism against the church and throne influenced later writers and political thinkers. The invention of his journey down the so-called Long River, however, made later historians question the accuracy of the whole book.

Fine copy.- (Some minor tears in the first folding map, stamp on title removed (repaired but with loss of some letters)).

Howes L-25; Lande 500; Sabin 38637.

Related Subjects: 18th Century America, North Canada France French Native Americans Travel & Voyages

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