MEMOIRE SUR LES MOEURS, COUSTUMES ET RELIGION DES SAUVAGES DE L'AMERIQU SEPTENTRIONALE ED. BY R.P. J. TAILHAN... by Perrot, Nicholas - 1864

Leipzig and Paris, 1864. First edition. [viii,341, (43)pp. (two leaves from appendix misbound after the title page) Twentieth century cloth.(library bookplate), embossed library stamp on title page. The rare first publication of a manuscript, dating from around 1700, on the customs of North American Indian tribes. Perrot was the first "coureur des bois" to maintain a journal of his travels. He is also credited with having negotiated the peace of 1671 (Sault Sainte-Marie) between the Royal Authority of New France and the various tribes of the Great Lakes region. "This work of Perrot had remained in manuscript for more than a century and a half, but not unknown. It had served Charlevoix in the preparation of his great history of New France; as it had long before its governors La Barre, Denonville, and Frontenac, in determining their policy towards the various tribes of Indian allies and foes it describes" - Field catalogue. "[Perrot] was a voyageur, fur trader and Indian agent employed in turn by the Jesuits, Sulpicians and successive French governors. He had an intimate knowledge of the Upper Lake region and extensive connections among the Indians" - TPL. SABIN 61022. HOWES P246, "aa." TPL 130. LANDE 705. FIELD CATALOGUE 1799