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Historiae Canadensis

Lot 16
17.01.2024 11:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Sold
$ 100 800
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
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Archive
ID 1119135
Lot 16 | Historiae Canadensis
Estimate value
$ 40 000 – 60 000
Historiae Canadensis

François Du Creux, 1664

DU CREUX, François (1596-1666). Historiae Canadensis, seu Novae Franciae libri decem. Paris: Sebastien Cramoisy and Sebastien Mabre-Cramoisy, 1664.



First edition of this important summation of the Jesuit Relations, complete with the often lacking engraving of the Jesuit martyrs. "Although Francois Du Creux never visited America, he undertook extensive research in the Jesuit Relations, the annual reports that missionaries in the New World filed with their superiors in France, to prepare the first summary of Jesuit activities in Canada. Not surprisingly, he describes the saintly qualities of the missionaries, emphasizes the hardships they endured, and glorifies the martyrs among them. As in Smith's history of Virginia, the Indians who appear in Du Creux's account serve principally to give meaning to the lives and adventures of Europeans. An oversize folding plate depicting the martyrdom of several famous Jesuits exemplifies this structure. The calm, heroic stoicism with which the engraver endows the martyrs not only reflects their perceived moral superiority but also suggests that as horrible as the violence of the Indians appears, it would, in the eternal scheme, prove ineffectual" (Creating America).



The map shows much more detail of the river system than in its predecessor map by Sanson, particularly in northern Quebec. This new information was gleaned mostly from fur traders, coureurs de bois such as Radisson and Groseilliers and was very important for the fur trade. There is an inset map of the Jesuit Huron Missions, one of only two engraved maps of this subject (the other by Bressani).



The rest of the plates depict the culture of the Native inhabitants of Canada as well as its natural history. Notable is Du Creux's elaborate meditation on the beaver, which he describes as a noble emblem of the country's virtues on the model of the European treatment of bees as metaphors of industrious labor. Alden & Landis 664⁄64; Bell Jesuit Relations p. 249; Burden 349 (map); Harrisse Nouvelle-France 120; Kershaw 148; Reese Creating America 87; Sabin 21072; Streeter sale 96.



Quarto (224 x 172mm). Engraved publisher's device on title, folding engraved plate of Jesuit martyrdoms by Huret, folding engraved map of Nova Francia, 12 engraved plates (title-page laid down; map with a stub tear and a couple of edge tears, supplied; Martyrs plate with two light stains, short stub tear, and creasing at left edge; text with pale marginal dampstaining, toning and scattered few small brown spots, paper flaw to 2C1 affecting two words). Early 19th-century speckled calf gilt, red morocco spine label (spine and edges rubbed, corners repaired and showing, light chipping to spine ends, a few small stains). Provenance: partially effaced early ownership signature to title (“Presbyter Cadomau[?]”) – two paragraphs of religious manuscript on the plate facing page 50 – Ernest E. Keet (bookplate).

Artist:François Du Creux (1596 - 1666)
Place of origin:Western Europe, France, Europe
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
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