Paris, chez Robert Pepie, 1688.
8vo [186 x 118 mm] of (1) l., title, 267 pp., (1) p. At the bottom of the last page one can read: “A Paris, de l’Imprimerie de la veuve Denis Langlois, 1688”. Stamp D.L.P. at the bottom of the title.
Bound in contemporary brown granite-like calf, spine ribbed and decorated, gilt over marbled edges. Contemporary binding.
Rare first edition of this superb description of the Indian tribes of Canada and of their relations with the French colons, printed under the reign of Louis XIV.
Brunet, supp., II, 567; Church 707; Harrisse, 159; Leclerc, p. 331, 1358; Chadenat, 4947; Sabin, 172.
Jean de Saint Vallier, appointed Bishop of Quebec to replace Mr de Laval, who resigned, wanted to know his diocese, which he visited from May 1685 to January 1687 before taking possession of it. The following year, upon his return to France, he published in the form of a long letter to one of his friends the account of his impressions.
“This small work is well written, and worthy of its author, who has governed this church for more than forty years, and has left illustrious marks of his charity, his piety, his disinterest and zeal”. Charlevoix.
“The book contains an account of the bishop’s visit to Canada in 1685, to examine the state of his diocese. An account is also given of the Indian tribes and their relations with the French settlers”. (Sabin)
Written in a concise, clear and elegant style, this travel recounts the daily habits and customs of the Indians, their relations with the French missionaries, the cultivations, the life of the different religious communities of the Ursuline, Hospitaller, Recollet, but it also provides more prosaic information.
The trip to Acadia occupies an important part of the work; follow the description of the Hurons and other populations, of a pleasant contact and very open to the Catholic faith.
This first edition of the utmost rarity was also published with a different title that same year (Relation des missions de la Nouvelle France) and it was reissued in 1856.
Very pure copy with wide margins preserved in its contemporary calf binding.
Provenance: Dampierre with engraved ex libris.
