A plan of the British attack on Quebec in October 1690 by a defender

LAHONTAN, Louis-Armande de.

Profil de La Ville De Quebec et de ses environs attaques par les Anglois lannee 1691.
Paris, 1741.100 x 215mm.

Binding folds as issued, trimmed to plate mark on left.

A scarce plan of Quebec illustrating the unsuccessful British attack during King William's War (1688-97). Top right is the 1,200-strong English landing force under Major John Walley being harrassed by the French militia and First Nation warriors under Jacques Le Moyne de Sainte-Hélène.
The map was publshed in 'Nouveaux Voyages de Mr. le Baron de Lahontan dans l'Amérique Septentrionale' by Louis-Armand, Baron de Lahontan (1666-c.1716). First published in 1703, this is an account of the nine years he spent in Canada while in the French army, including fighting in this battle.
Although Lahontan's account is useful for the descriptions of French relations with the Algonquin and Iroquois tribes, his claim to have explored west of the Mississippi is regarded with suspicion. This account introduced an imaginary 'Long River' (Riviere Longue), rising in distant western mountains and emptying into the upper Mississippi, copied by nearly all other mapmakers.


Stock ID : 22562