Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix
Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix | |
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Catholic priest, professor, historian, author, explorer | |
Known for | Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle-France |
Signature | |
Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix,
Name
Charlevoix's name also appears as Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix,[3] Pierre De Charlevoix,[4] and François-Xavier de Charlevoix.[5]
Life
Charlevoix was born at Saint-Quentin in the province of Picardy on 24[6][5] or 29 October 1682.[7] A descendant from a line of lesser nobility, his father held the post of deputy attorney general. His ancestors had served in positions in "great trust and high responsibility"[8] such as legal officers, aldermen, and mayors.[9]
On 15 September 1698,
Charlevoix's work was halted by a
Charlevoix's second trip to Saint-Domingue was more fortunate. He arrived in the colony at the beginning of September 1722. He departed for France at the end of that month, landing at Le Havre on 24 December.[5] Charlevoix kept a record of his entire expedition, which he published as the Journal d'un voyage fait par l'ordre du Roi dans l'Amérique Septentrionale de la Nouvelle France[16] Charlevoix's records of local geography were later used to improve regional maps. Unsuccessful in reaching the Pacific, he reported upon his return to France in 1722 of two possible routes: by the Missouri River, "whose source is certainly not far from the sea", or by the establishment of a mission in Sioux territory, from which contact with tribes further west may have been possible.[17]
In 1723, Charlevoix traveled to
For twenty-two years, from 1733 to 1755, Charlevoix was one of the directors of the Mémoires[5] or Journal de Trévoux, a monthly journal of literature, history, and science. On the pages of that journal, he lay down in 1735 the plan for a corpus of histories that should have given an all-inclusive account of the extra-European world. The plan was announced when his history of Japan—the first installment of the proposed series—was about to be published.[18] In 1744 he published his History of New France, drawing on various authors as well as his own observations, thus providing the most comprehensive book on the history and geography of the French colony.
His death, at La Flèche on 1 February 1761,[6][7] prevented him from developing his history of New France beyond 1736.
Legacy
Many places are named after him, listed here.
The region of Charlevoix north of Quebec City is one, as are
Louise Phelps Kellogg wrote "Charlevoix was not of the temper of the earlier Jesuits of New France. He was by no means a zealot, and had no vocation to deliver himself to a life of suffering and deprivation for the conversion of Indian souls. Rather, he was a man of scholarly temper, interested as an observer in world affairs. […] His was an eager curiosity concerning life, rather than a burning ambition to be himself a moulder of destiny."[19]
Works
Charlevoix's works, enumerated in the Bibliographie des Pères de la Compagnie de Jésus (Bibliography of Jesuit Priests) by Carlos Sommervogel, fall into two groups.[
- Histoire de l'Établissement, des Progrès, et de la Décadence du Christianisme dans l'Empire du Japon, ou l'On Voit les Différentes Révolutions qui Ont Agité Cette Monarchie Pendant plus d'un Siècle (in French), Rouen, 1715, reprinted 1829.
- La Vie de la Mère Marie de l'Incarnation, Institutrice & Primière Supérieure des Ursulines de la Nouvelle France, Paris: Ant. Claude Briasson, 1724. (in French)
- Histoire de l'Isle Espagnole ou de S. Domingue, Ecrite Particulierement sur de Mémoires Manuscrits de P. Jean-Baptiste le Pers, Jesuite, Missionaire à Saint Domingue, & sur les Pièces Originales, qui se Conservent au Dépôt de la Marine, Vol. I, Paris: François Barois, 1730. (in French)
- Histoire de l'Isle Espagnole..., Vol. II, Paris: François Barois, 1731. (in French)
- Histoire de l'Isle Espagnole..., Vol. III, Amsterdam: François l'Honoré, 1733. (in French)
- Histoire et Description Générale du Japon: ou l'On Trouvera Tout Ce qu'On a Pu Apprendre de la Nature & des Productions du Pays, du Caractère & des Coutumes des Habitans, du Gouvernement & du Commerce, des Révolutions Arrivées dans l'Empire & dans la Religion, et l'Examen de Tous les Auteurs, qui Ont Écrit sur le Même Sujet, avec les Fastes Chronologiques de la Découverte du Nouveau Monde (in French), Paris: Julien-Michel Gandouin & al., 1736
- Histoire et Description Générale de la Nouvelle France, avec le Journal Historique d'un Voyage Fait par Ordre du Roi dans l'Amérique Septentrionnale (in French), Paris: Veuve Ganeau & al., 1744
- An Account of the French Settlements in North America: Shewing from the Latest Authors, the Towns, Ports, Islands, Lakes, Rivers, &c. of Canada, Claimed and Improved by the French King, Boston: Rogers & Fowle, 1746.
- A Voyage to North-America: Undertaken by Command of the Present King of France, Containing the Geographical Description and Natural History of Canada and Louisiana, with the Customs, Manners, Trade, and Religion of the Inhabitants, a Description of the Lakes and Rivers, with their Navigation and Manner of Passing the Great Cataracts, Dublin: John Exshaw & James Potts, 1766
- Shea, John Gilmary, ed. (1866), History and General Description of New France, Chicago: Loyola University Press
- Shea, John Gilmary, ed. (1870), History and General Description of New France, vol. IV, Chicago: Loyola University Press.
- Shea, John Gilmary, ed. (1871), History and General Description of New France, vol. V, Chicago: Loyola University Press.
- Shea, John Gilmary, ed. (1872), History and General Description of New France, vol. VI, Chicago: Loyola University Press.
- Histoire du Paraguay (in French), Paris: Ganeau & al., 1756
- The History of Paraguay, Containing amongst Many Other New, Curious, and Interesting Particulars of That Country, a Full and Authentic Account of the Establishments Formed There by the Jesuits, from among the Savage Natives, in the Very Centre of Barbarism, Establishments Allowed to Have Realized the Sublime Ideas of Fenelon, Sir Thomas More, and Plato, Dublin: P. & W. Wilson & al., 1769
- Historia Paraguajensis (in Latin), Venice: Francisco Sansoni, 1779
See also Charlevoix's work in Lénardon's index to the Journal du Trévoir.[22]
See also
References
- ^ Hist. Para. (1779).
- ^ Charlevoix, Pierre-François-Xavier De. History and General Description of New France. Translated by John Gilmary Shea. Vol. 1. New York: John Gilmary Shea, 1866. 1.
- ^ Hist. Esp. (1730).
- ^ Hist. & Desc. Gen. Nouv. Fr. (1744).
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Spillane (1913).
- ^ a b Charlevoix, Pierre-Francois-Xavier De. Journal of a Voyage to North America. London: Dodsley., 1761. XV.
- ^ a b Chisholm (1911).
- ^ a b Charlevoix, Pierre-François-Xavier De. History and General Description of New France. Translated by John Gilmary Shea. Vol. 1. New York: John Gilmary Shea, 1866. 1.
- ^ "Pierre François Xavier De Charlevoix." Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online, 2000. Accessed 19 February 2012. http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=35371.
- ^ a b Baynes (1878).
- ^ a b c Charlevoix, History and General Description (1866), page 2.
- ^ "The professors all came from France. Scholastics, students of theology, came in their twenties to teach the grammar classes for 2 or 3 years before returning to France. The priests came in their thirties and spent at least a quarter century in New France, alternating between their roles as professor and missionary to the natives. Some devoted themselves entirely to education. The college had among its professors Father Pierre-François-Xavier de CHARLEVOIX, once Voltaire's master, whose Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France was published in Paris in 1744." Collège des Jésuites in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- ^ Charlevoix, History (1866), p. 4
- ^ Charlevoix, Pierre-François-Xavier De. History and General Description of New France. Translated by John Gilmary Shea. Vol. 1. New York: John Gilmary Shea, 1866. 3.
- ^ A voyage to North-America : undertaken by command of the present king of France ; containing the geographical description and natural history of Canada and Louisiana ; with the customs, manners, trade and religion of the inhabitants ; a description of the lakes and rivers, with their navigation and manner of passing the Great Cataracts / by Father Charlevoix ; also, a description and natural history for the islands in the West Indies belonging to the different powers of Europe ; illustrated with a number of curious prints and maps not in any other edition. Pierre Charlevoix. Dublin : Printed for J. Exshaw, and J. Potts, 1766. Vol2, p163.
- ^ a b Charlevoix, Pierre-François-Xavier De. History and General Description of New France. Translated by John Gilmary Shea. Vol. 1. New York: John Gilmary Shea, 1866. 4.
- ^ "Pierre François Xavier De Charlevoix." Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online. 2000. Accessed 19 February 2012. http://www.biographi.ca/009004-119.01-e.php?BioId=35371
- S2CID 145408022.
- ^ Charlevoix, Pierre-Francois-Xavier De. Journal of a Voyage to North America. London: Dodsley., 1761. XV.
- ^ Charlevoix, Pierre-François-Xavier De. History and General Description of New France. Translated by John Gilmary Shea. Vol. 1. New York: John Gilmary Shea, 1866. 6.
- ^ Charlevoix, Pierre-Francois-Xavier De. Journal of a Voyage to North America. London: Dodsley., 1761. XXIII
- ISBN 9782051007689.
Sources
- Spillane, Edward Peter (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. III. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
- Baynes, T. S., ed. (1878). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. V (9th ed.). New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 429. .
- Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 5 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 946.
External links
- Works by Pierre François Xavier de Charlevoix at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)