“The manuscript from which the above Map was prepared, was found in the
‘Bibliotheque du roi,’ in Paris in a volume of La Harpe’s journeys of
1718-1722. It is said to bear date the year 1700. If so, it is evident
that after the original preparation and before publication some one has
added matter subsequently ascertained, for the Map above contains items
of as late a date as 1717. Also is to be noted the fact that while all
the other parts of the Map are in the French language, one single
English phrase is to be found in the lower right-hand corner, to-wit:
‘De Soto landed 31 May, 1538.’ This would indicate that some one other
than the original draftsman had taken part in its creation and at a time
subsequent to its original preparation.”
Claude and Guillaume Delisle—father and son—were the most noted French
cartographers of their day. There have been reissues of the map in
question, corrected to date. For a sketch of Delisle see C. A.
Walckenaer, VIES DE PLUSIEURS PERSONNAGES CÉLÉBRES, 1830; and Vincent
Dutouret, EXAMEN SUR TOUTES LES CARTES GÉNÉRALES DES QUATRE PARTIES DE
LE TERRE, MISES AU JOUR, PAR FEU DELISLE, DUPUIS 1700, JUS’QU EN 1725,
POUR SERVIR D’ECLAIRCISSEMENT SUR LA GEOGRAPHIS, 1728.
[79] Plate 30.
[80] Vol. III, page 262.
[81] For an extended account of the Radisson-Groseillers controversy see
MEMOIRS OF EXPLORATIONS IN THE BASIN OF THE MISSISSIPPI, Vol. VI,
MINNESOTA, by J. V. Brower, and particularly RADISSON AND GROSEILLIERS,
by Henry Colin Campbell, issued as No. 2 of the _Parkman Club
Publications_, Milwaukee, 1896.
Pierre Esprit Radisson was a native of St. Malo in Brittany and in 1651
settled with his parents at Three Rivers on the St. Lawrence. Medard
Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers, was born in Brie, France, though the
exact dates in both cases are not known. It is supposed that these two
adventurers died in Great Britain at an advanced age as they had served
in the interest of the French and British as policy dictated. In the
Minnesota monograph above referred to, Mr. Benjamin Sulté, one of the
leading Canadian authorities on the early French explorations, gives in
detail a vast amount of highly important material concerning the
Radisson-(Chouart) Groseillers connection and a more popular though
somewhat biased exposition of the same subject is given by Miss Agnes C.
Laut in her PATHFINDERS OF THE WEST, part I.
Radisson’s highly important account of his wanderings are in manuscript
in The Bodleian Library, and include the record of his first four
voyages, including two journeys westward in company with Groseilliers,
and his subsequent Hudson Bay experiences are in the British Museum. In
1885 _The Prince Society_ of Boston published the work in its entirety
and to the lasting benefit of American history.
For further reference to this matter see WIS. HIST. COLL., Vol. XI, and
also the same Society’s PROCEEDINGS, for 1895.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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