CHARLEVOIX, Pierre-François-Xavier de. - Lot 277

CHARLEVOIX, Pierre-François-Xavier de. Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France avec le journal historique d'un voyage fait par l'ordre du Roi dans l'Amérique Septentrionale. Paris: Pierre-François Giffart, 1744. 4 volumes (of 6, not including volumes 3 and 6) in-12. Contemporary marbled and polished fawn calf, ribbed spine, gilt title and tomaison, richly decorated caissons, red edges (flaws including dull corners, rubbing, missing headpieces, split upper jaw of t.5, small tears without missing on some maps). First in-12 edition of this important work on Canada and North America, published the same year as the original in-4. Illustrated with 44 botanical plates and 23 maps, all folding and copper-engraved in black. Written on the direct testimony of the author himself, but also on what he collected from the best sources, with great discernment. After the Peace of Utrecht, which ended the War of Spanish Succession in 1713, the French sent the Jesuit Charlevoix to propose boundaries for Acadia (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Cape Breton Island today). The division of the territory had major repercussions on trade relations and the lives of the natives. At the same time, the Duc d'Orléans was looking for a link between the Great Lakes and the Pacific Ocean, the mythical "Sea of the West", which led Charlevoix across America along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans in 1722. The maps cover many regions of North America, including Canada: French Florida, Montreal and its environs, Hudson Bay, the eastern part of New France, New Orleans, the lakes of Canada, Quebec... Of all the relations of Canada, it is in this one that we can best learn about the life of the tribes and peoples of the time, some of whom still live today. Copy of 4 of 6 volumes with 44 plates and 23 of 28 maps: T1. (3) ff. VIII-454 pp. 5 folding maps. T2. (1) f., 501 pp., 5 maps. T4. (1) f., 388 pp. 44 plates, 6 folding maps. T5. (1) f., XXVIII-456 pp. 7 folding maps. Volume five is entitled "Journal d'un voyage fait par l'ordre du Roi...". Provenance: period handwritten ex libris label on first endpapers, Ex Libris Delorme Orat. Dni Jesu Sacerd. Sabin, 12136.