Hennepin, Nouveau Voyage...

HENNEPIN, Louis (1640-1705).
Nouveau Voyage d'un Pais Plus Grande que L'Europe.
Ultrect: Chez Ernestus Voskuyl, 1698.
Comparable: Christie's, 2007 - $5,625.
12mo. (5 3/4 x 3 1/4 in.; 14.6 x 8.2 cm.). Title-page printed in red and black, one engraved folding map and 4 engraved folding plates; title-page has been re-margined, one or two short marginal tears to maps, not affecting image. Contemporary vellum over thin paste-board; new endpapers. FIRST EDITION AND AN UNCOMMON COPY with the imprint "Utrect, chez Ernestus Voskuyl" instead of the more common imprint of "chez Antoine Schouten" (Church 774). A continuation of Hennepin's Nouvelle Decouverte of the previous year, it comprises materials about La Salle taken from Chrétien Le Clercq's "Etablissement de la foy dans la Nouvelle France" (Paris, 1691) and the description of the Indians which had first appeared in Hennepin's own "Description de la Louisiane" (Paris, 1683). HENNEPIN WAS A PROMINENT FIGURE IN THE EUROPEAN EXPLORATION OF THE NORTH AMERICAN INTERIOR, WHICH SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCED THE ATTENTION OF THE MAJOR EUROPEAN POWERS as well at the European scientific community on the importance of Mississippi Valley exploration and development. Hennepin made two voyages to the New World, the first was on the same boat as the explorer René-Robert Cavalier de La Salle, arriving in Quebec in 1675. The following year he traveled to Fort Frontenac (now Kingston ) on Lake Ontario and helped establish a mission there. In 1678 Hennepin was reassigned to Quebec and in November of that year accompanied La Salle on his exploration into the Great Lakes region. He accompanied Accault on an exploratory expedition of the Mississippi valley, and was taken prisoner by the Sioux. Rescued in 1681 by a small party of French explorers led by Daniel Greylsolon, sieur du Lhut, he returned to France and published an account of his adventures as "Description de la Louisiane" in 1683. Fleeing from France in disgrace in 1692, Hennepin sought the protection of King William III of England . He proposed the colonization of the Mississippi Valley to the King, and through the assistance of the British secretary of war was permitted to travel to Amsterdam to publish works on North America and make preparations for potential British colonization of the American interior. "Unable to publish his proposed works in Amsterdam, Hennepin subsequently traveled to Utrecht and with British assistance published there two major works on early North America, "Nouvelle découverte d'un très grand pays, situé dans l'Amérique" (1697) and "Nouveau Voyage d'un païs plus grand que l'Europe". Fearing that William III would follow Hennepin's advice, France organized its own major colonization expedition to the mouth of the Mississippi River. Hennepin falsely claimed to have made a voyage of discovery along the lower Mississippi River before La Salle's famous descent of the river in 1682. When it was discovered that his last two works were based on fallacious information and that he engaged in plagiarism, Hennepin s reputation was largely destroyed. Notwithstanding this he is still widely credited for his impact on North American colonization. FIRST DEPICTION OF NIAGRA FALLS. REFERENCES: Alden & Landis 698/101; Arents Tobacco 432; Church 774n; Harrisse NF 177; Howes H-417; Sabin 31351; Streeter sale I:104; Streit II:2775.