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Cartier Sails the St. Lawrence
Excerpt from Sails the St. Lawrence
By logbooks we mean the original narratives which were written from Cartier's own records of his voyages. It is believed that parts of the original narratives were written by Cartier, and other parts by a person, unknown to us today, who based his text on Cartier's logbooks. To simplify matters, these narratives are referred to in our story as the logbooks of Cartier.
Like real detectives, modern historians have searched the European libraries, the town records, and the old secret papers of the kings for scraps of information which have contributed greatly to our understanding of these voyages. We are especially indebted to the research work of Dr. H. P. Biggar, a Canadian historian, who has written two books which we have used as source material through the courtesy of his publishers, the Public Archives of Canada. The first of these books is The Voyages of jacques Cartier, published with translations and notes; the sec ond, A Collection of Documents Relating to j'acques Cartier and the S ieur de Roberval, from which we have gathered many of the facts in our chapter on the Portuguese spy, the King of France, and the Emperor of Spain.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
By logbooks we mean the original narratives which were written from Cartier's own records of his voyages. It is believed that parts of the original narratives were written by Cartier, and other parts by a person, unknown to us today, who based his text on Cartier's logbooks. To simplify matters, these narratives are referred to in our story as the logbooks of Cartier.
Like real detectives, modern historians have searched the European libraries, the town records, and the old secret papers of the kings for scraps of information which have contributed greatly to our understanding of these voyages. We are especially indebted to the research work of Dr. H. P. Biggar, a Canadian historian, who has written two books which we have used as source material through the courtesy of his publishers, the Public Archives of Canada. The first of these books is The Voyages of jacques Cartier, published with translations and notes; the sec ond, A Collection of Documents Relating to j'acques Cartier and the S ieur de Roberval, from which we have gathered many of the facts in our chapter on the Portuguese spy, the King of France, and the Emperor of Spain.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
108 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 1956
About the author
Esther Averill
27 books55 followersEsther Averill (1902-1992) began her career as a storyteller drawing cartoons for her local newspaper. After graduating from Vassar College in 1923, she moved first to New York City and then to Paris, where she founded her own publishing company. The Domino Press introduced American readers to artists from all over the world, including Feodor Rojankovsky, who later won a Caldecott Award. In 1941, Esther Averill returned to the United States and found a job in the New York Public Library while continuing her work as a publisher. She wrote her first book about the red-scarfed, mild-mannered cat Jenny Linsky in 1944, modeling its heroine on her own shy cat. Esther Averill would eventually write twelve more tales about Miss Linsky and her friends (including the I Can Read Book, The Fire Cat), each of which was eagerly awaited by children all over the United States (and their parents, too).
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 1, 2017
Adult books about this explorer are scarce, so I was pleased to find this young adult book in Open Library. Averill, who is best known for her Jenny the cat series for children, does an excellent job of describing all three of Cartier's voyages, providing many quotes from his logbook. Cartier was certainly an interesting man, and, according to Averill, kinder to the natives than most explorers of his time. It's too bad he never made it to Niagara Falls or the Great Lakes. One of my favorite parts was when, during the second voyage, his men came down with scurvy, and a number of them died, until the natives brought a remedy consisting of the leaves and bark of some type of evergreen tree, and the men were cured. Cartier made sure to bring a medical person to study the efficacy of "Canadian herbs" on his third voyage.
I do wish that the maps had been a little clearer and that Averill had provided a list of sources she consulted at the end. Nevertheless, this is a book well worth reading it you're interested in this lesser known fellow.
I do wish that the maps had been a little clearer and that Averill had provided a list of sources she consulted at the end. Nevertheless, this is a book well worth reading it you're interested in this lesser known fellow.
October 30, 2018
Picked up as a library discard due to the seafaring and the art, but I was pleasantly surprised that this was an enjoyable history. I have absolutely no historical background to compare it to, but Averill appears to have handled the relationships between the explorers and the natives pretty well. At first, I thought it was going to be a white-wash when Averill spoke of one of the natives turning sour on the explorers for "no reason", but she did not shy away from Cartier's plans to kidnap the chief to take him back to England, or of his lies catching up with him as he explored further inland.
I'm not sure I would have enjoyed this as a 10 year old, but the touches on court intrigue and politics and the details on how the merchants were blocking his recruitment added just enough for me now...probably the perfect amount that I "need" to know about Cartier.
I'm not sure I would have enjoyed this as a 10 year old, but the touches on court intrigue and politics and the details on how the merchants were blocking his recruitment added just enough for me now...probably the perfect amount that I "need" to know about Cartier.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews