Champlain: The Birth of French America

Gratien Allaire is a professor of history at Laurentian University in
Sudbury, Ontario.

Samuel de Champlain is a central figure in the founding of Canada. As
Denis Vaugeois states in his preface, “it is difficult to imagine the
birth of French America without Champlain.” Co-editor Raymonde
Litalien introduces the 35 articles of this thorough investigation of
the “Father of New France” with a very important historiographical
essay. The reader is treated to a detailed chronology, an extensive
bibliography, and “all the known maps by Champlain reproduced in
colour.”

The book’s scope and breadth is impressive. Champlain is analyzed
through his times (“France in Champlain’s Time”), his life and
achievements (“Before 1603,” “Acadia: The Beginnings,”
“Consolidation of a Colony,” “The Challenges”), his writings
(“Champlain: Taking Stock”), and his historical representations
(“Remembering Champlain”). Individual chapters are authored by
specialists and experts from Canada and France.

Franco-Ontarian historian Gaétan Gervais writes on “Champlain and
Ontario (1603–35)” and Acadian historian Maurice Basque on “The
Tercentenary of the French Settlement at Оle Sainte-Croix in 1604.”
Canadian geographer Conrad E. Heidenreich and historian Edward H. Dahl
deal with “Samuel de Champlain’s Cartography, 1603–1632.” French
archivist Йtienne Taillemite presents “The Royal Navy in
Champlain’s Time.” A French travel accounts specialist, Franзois
Moureau, studies the representation of “American Aboriginals in the
Ballets de Cour in Champlain’s Time.” Jean-Pierre Chrestien, curator
of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, raises doubts about
Champlain’s ownership of the astrolabe found in 1867 near Cobden,
Ontario. In his discussion of the authenticity of Champlain’s
portrait, however, art historian Denis Martin is categorical:
Champlain’s astrolabe cannot be Champlain’s since he used an
astrolabe after the date he is supposed to have lost this important
instrument.

First published in French, this monumental work is a must-read for
anyone seriously interested in Champlain, the history of French presence
in North America, and the early years of Canada.