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TEXT: 44 pages, printed in French and English (side-by-side, in two columns). Title in red and black. 10.25 inches tall. Original plain green paper wrappers. Wrappers a bit rumpled, with some very light chipping along edges. Internally fine. PLATE: untitled sepia-tone lithographic plate after a pen and ink drawing by Charpentier Bosio. Image: 6.75 inches x 9.25 inches, on blank card mount: 8.5 inches x 10.75 inches. The lithograph is in a very good state of preservation. There are a few small creases to the blank margins of the mount, and a tiny chip missing from the top left corner, otherwise the mount is in very good condition. Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle (1643-1687) began his expedition to explore the length of the Mississippi River to its delta at the Gulf of Mexico in December 1681. He was accompanied by his lieutenant Henri de Tonty (c1649-1704), associate Jacques Bourdon D'Autray (1652-1688), associate Pierre You de La Decouverte (1658-1718), missionary Father Zenobe Membre (1645-1689), royal notary Jacques de la Metairie (1636-?), and several other associates. In all, there were twenty-three Frenchmen and eighteen First Nations men in twelve canoes. On 9 April 1682, at the western mouth of the Mississippi River, La Salle took possession of the entire Mississippi Valley for France, naming the territory LOUISIANA after King Louis XIV. On a spot of high ground, the expedition placed a cross and column to which was attached the Arms of France, the name of King Louis, and the date. The territory claimed was all the land drained by the Mississippi River, and all the associated people, settlements, waterways, and natural resources. A record or proces-verbal of the journey and event was made by la Metairie and signed by the main participants, a ceremony was held with a salute of firearms, and the claim was completed. The pictorial likeness of the ceremonial assembly of La Salle and his men by Charpentier Bosio was based on the detailed proces-verbal made by la Metairie. La Salle is pictured as the central figure that stands next to the column, with his sword in his right hand and the proces-verbal in his left hand from which he reads aloud. To La Salle's left is Father Membre dressed in his traditional robes. To La Salle's right stands Tonty, with his sword in his left hand (having lost his right hand in battle some years prior). D'Autray, You, and a number of other Frenchmen stand in the foreground, as do some of the local First Nations (one of whom holds a large calumet or ceremonial peace-pipe). Some of the other men belonging to La Salle's expedition stand in the background observing the ceremony. The accompanying booklet of descriptive text includes some of the key documents related to La Salle's activities, including: (1) the Proces-verbal of the taking possession of Louisiana, dated 9 April 1682; (2) the Letters-Patent of Nobility granted to La Salle, dated 13 May 1675; (3) the Letters-Patent to La Salle for the Discovery of the Western Sea, dated 12 May 1678; (4) an extract from the writings of Father Chrestien Le Clercq, dated 1691; (5) an extract from La Salle's Narrative of his Mississippi River expedition, dated 1682; and (6) a petition by Henri de Tonty to Count de Pontchartrain, Minister of the Marine, for a pension in recognition of his loyal service. Antoine Louis Boimare, a bookseller, publisher and bibliographer in Louisiana with a special interest in the history of the Mississippi River valley and delta region, planned to issue a series of prints showing scenes of historical importance, together with accompanying booklets of descriptive text. This first image, issued in 1868, depicted Rene-Robert Cavelier de La Salle and his men taking possession of Louisiana and the Mississippi River for France in 1682. Boimare engaged the French artist Charpentier Bosio to portray the event and the Parisian lithographer and printer Rose-Joseph Lemercier to produce the lithograph. Seller Inventory # 233
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