[681] [Harrisse, Notes sur la Nouvelle France, no. 62, says the book is hard reading, which explains the little use made of it by historians. Chevalier, in his introduction to the Paris reprint by Tross, in 1864-66, arraigns Charlevoix for his harsh judgment of Sagard. The original is now rare and costly. Tross, before securing a copy to print from, kept for years a standing offer of 1,200 francs. There are copies in the Harvard College and Carter-Brown (vol. ii. no. 437) libraries. Rich, in 1832, priced it at £1 16s.; Quaritch, in 1880, prices it at £63; and Le Clerc (no. 2,947), with the Huron music in fac-simile, gives 1,200 francs. Dufossé (Americana, 1876 and 1877-78) prices copies at 1,200 and 1,500 francs; cf. Crowninshield, no. 948, and Field’s Indian Bibliography, no. 1,344.
Of the Grand Voyage of 1632, there are copies in Harvard College and Carter-Brown libraries, and in the Library of Congress. Other copies were in the Crowninshield (no. 949), Brinley (no. 143), and O’Callaghan (no. 2,046) sales. Harrisse (Notes, etc., no. 53) says that after the Solar sale, where it brought 320 francs, it became an object for collectors; and Dufossé, in 1877, priced it at 550 francs; Ellis & White, the same year, at £42; Quaritch, at £36; Rich, fifty years ago, said copies had brought £15. Cf. Field, no. 1,341. This book was also reprinted by Tross in 1865.—Ed.]
[682] [This translation, of which only 250 copies were printed, was made by Dr. Shea. He introduces it with “A Sketch of Father Christian Le Clercq,” which includes a bibliographical account of his works. The book supplements in a measure Sagard’s Histoire du Canada, since that had given the earlier labors as this portrays the later works of the Recollects, or at least more minutely than Sagard. The Recollects had been recalled to Canada to thwart the Jesuits, and Le Clercq reached Quebec in 1673, and was assigned in 1675 to the vicinity of the Bay of Gaspé as a missionary field; and it is of his labors in this region that we learn in his Nouvelle relation de la Gaspésie, which was printed in Paris in 1691 (cf. Harrisse, Notes, 170; Field, Indian Bibliography, 902; Ternaux, 176; Faribault, 82; Lenox, in Historical Magazine, ii. 25; Dufossé, Americana, 1878, 75 and 100 francs; Sabin, vol. x. p. 159; Stevens, Bibliotheca Historica, 1870, no. 1,113; Brinley Catalogue, 102; Le Clercq, Bibl. Amer., 746, 140 francs; Carter-Brown, vol. ii. no. 1,415; O’Callaghan, no. 1,360), and Le Clercq refers his readers to the present work for a continuation of the story, but it does not contain it, that portion being suppressed, as Dr. Shea thinks. The Jesuits are bitterly satirized by Le Clercq in the concluding part of the first volume, and in the second of the Établissement. Shea’s collation of the Nouvelle Relation does not correspond with the Harvard College copy, which has 28 instead of 26 preliminary leaves. See also Sabin’s Dictionary, vol. x. no. 39,649; Field’s Indian Bibliography, no. 903; Harrisse, Notes sur la Nouvelle France, no. 170; Boucher de la Richarderie, vi. 21; Faribault, p. 82.
The original edition of the Établissement had two varieties of title, one bearing the author’s name in full, and the other concealing it by initials. It is very rare with either title, but copies can be found in the Carter-Brown Library (see Catalogue, no. 1,413), and in the Sparks Collection at Cornell University (see Sparks Catalogue, no. 1,482). Dr. Shea notes other copies in Baron James Rothschild’s library at Paris, and in the Abbé H. Verreau’s collection at Montreal. Mr. Stewart tells me there are copies in the libraries of Laval University, of the Quebec Government, Of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, and of Parliament, at Ottawa. The Leno Library has a copy of what seems the same edition, with the title changed to Histoire des colonies françoises, Paris and Lyons, 1692. Mr. Lenox (Historical Magazine, January, 1858), following Sparks and others, claimed that the 1691 edition was suppressed; but Harrisse (Notes, etc. p. 159) disputes this in a long notice of the book, in which he cites Œuvres de Messire Antoine Arnould, Paris, 1780, xxxiv. 720, to the contrary. Le Clercq’s book should have a map, “Carte generalle de la Nouvelle France,” which is given in fac-simile in vol. ii. of this translation. It includes all North America, except the Arctic regions, but, singularly, omits Lake Champlain.
President Sparks wrote in his copy: “An extremely rare book.... It is peculiarly valuable as containing the first original account of the discoveries of La Salle by two [Recollect] missionaries who accompanied him. From this book, also, Hennepin drew the account of his pretended discovery of the Mississippi River.” See the bibliographical notice in Shea’s Discovery and Explorations of the Mississippi Valley, p. 78. Sparks, in his Life of La Salle, first pointed out how Hennepin had plagiarized from the journal of Father Membré, contained in Le Clercq. See further in Shea’s Mississippi Valley, p. 83 et seq., where Membré’s journal in Shea’s translation from Le Clercq was printed for the first time, and the note on Hennepin, following chap. viii. of the present volume. Harrisse, Notes, etc., p. 160, points out what we owe to this work for a knowledge of La Salle’s explorations. Cf. Parkman’s La Salle; Field’s Indian Bibliography, no. 903, with a note touching the authorship; Brunet, Supplement, i. 810, noting copies sold,—Maisonneuve, 250 francs; Sóbolewski, 150 thalers; Tross (1873), 410 francs; Dufossé, 600 francs; Le Clercq, no. 2,833, 1,500 francs.
The bibliographers are agreed that others than Le Clercq were engaged in the Établissement, and that the part concerning Frontenac was clearly not by Le Clercq. Charlevoix says Frontenac himself assisted in it; and it is Shea’s opinion that extraneous matter was attached to Le Clercq’s account of the Recollect missions, to convert the book into an attack in large part on the Jesuits.—Ed.
[683] Champlain’s Voyages, Prince ed. iii. 104 et seq.
[684] Establishment of the Faith, i. 200, 346.
[685] [See a note on the bibliography of Hennepin, following chap. viii. of the present volume.—Ed.]
[686] [S. Lesage, in the Revue Canadienne, iv. 303 (1867), gives a good summary of the Recollect missions.—Ed.]