Charlevoix's Journal
Charlevoix was born in St. Quentin, France in October 1682. He entered the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1698. Charlevoix was quickly identified as a man capable of extended travel in the wilderness with an insatiable curiosity and a scholar's ability to record what he observed.
As a result of this mix of skills, Charlevoix was sent to travel the length of New France, beginning in Quebec and ending in New Orleans. His mission was to observe his majesty's kingdom, and, secretly, to learn what he could regarding a route to the Pacific Ocean. Although he never found a route to the Pacific, his observations were prescient. Charlevoix, who returned to France in 1823, recorded his observations in the form of letters to the Duchess of Lesdiguières, his patroness. Although these letters were never actually sent, they became the format in which Charlevoix published his experiences in the Histoire et Description Generale de la Nouvelle France, which was printed in 1744.
This publication was extraordinarily influential. It was so important that as the British and French struggled for control of North America in the French and Indian War, in 1761 the work was translated and published in English to make Charlevoix's account available to the British public. First editions of the French and English publication of Charlevoix's Histoire et Description Generale de la Nouvelle France are found in the Clarke.