Nouveau Voyage

Bound in 19^th Century smooth vellum with Yapp edges, with a black Moroccan gilt stamped lettering piece on the spine. The vellum scuffed and a bit dirty, with a few cracks and minor splits, but still quite attractive. With the small book-binders stamp on the front endpaper; “Bound by W. Pratt For H. Stevens 1871.”

Internally the contents are uncut and in a generally fine condition throughout with no water stains and little in the way of foxing. The Title page with some soiling. The leaves and plates white and crisp, showing little handling. As is typical in uncut issues page sizes can vary. The Map with generous margins. The map and plates all strong dark impressions

Per Wikipedia; Father Louis Hennepin, O.F.M. baptized Antoine, (12 May 1626 – 5 December 1704) was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Recollet order (French: Récollets) and an explorer of the interior of North America.

At the request of Louis XIV, the Récollets sent four missionaries to New France in May 1675, including Hennepin, accompanied by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. In 1676 Hennepin went to the Indian mission at Fort Frontenac, and from there to the Mohawks.

In 1678, Hennepin was ordered by his provincial superior to accompany La Salle on an expedition to explore the western part of New France. Hennepin departed in 1679 with La Salle from Quebec City to construct the 45-ton barque Le Griffon, sail through the Great Lakes, and explore the unknown West.

Hennepin was with La Salle at the construction of Fort Crevecoeur (near present-day Peoria, Illinois) in January 1680. In February, La Salle sent Hennepin and two others as an advance party to search for the fertile basin of the Mississippi River. The party followed the Illinois River to its junction with the Mississippi. Shortly thereafter, Hennepin was captured by a Sioux war party and carried off for a time into what is now the state of Minnesota.

In September 1680, thanks to Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Du Lhut, Hennepin and the others were given canoes and allowed to leave, eventually returning to Quebec. Hennepin returned to France and was never allowed by his order to return to North America. Local historians credit the Franciscan Récollet friar as the first European to step ashore at the site of present-day Hannibal, Missouri.

Two great waterfalls were brought to the world’s attention by Hennepin: Niagara Falls, with the most voluminous flow of any in North America, and the Saint Anthony Falls in what is now Minneapolis, the only natural waterfall on the Mississippi River.