RELATION OF THE DISCOVERIES AND VOYAGES OF CAVALIER DE LA SALLE FROM 1679 TO 1681. The Official Narrative. Tr. by M. B. Anderson

Octavo, 299pp., half vellum, gray paper boards, untrimmed. Ex libris John Thomas Lee, who was President of The Caxton Club in the 1920s. [ see Sowerby 4073 & 4074 for Jefferson's copies of this work ]. "This was first published, in French, in Margry's six-volume DECOUVERTES. . from an anonymous manuscript. This, the first separate edition, gives both French and English texts. It was the official account sent to the Ministry of the Marine; if not by La Salle himself, it was probably inspired by him. { Fr.} Hennepin's plagiarisms from it in his 1797 NOUVELLE DECOUVERTE, indicate that he had access to the manuscript -Howes L110." LaSalle's "domineering character is perhaps too often emphasized and his questing spirit and contribution to humanity are too often forgotten. The narratives of the LaSalle expedition are among the most fascinating of the Midwestern travel tales -full of action and excellent description -- Hubach p.10." [Piehl IX].