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The Minnesota Historical Society has acquired a rare first edition of an early account of French exploration of the Great Lakes. Published in Paris in 1619, the book becomes not only one of the oldest books in the society's collection, but also one of the earliest accounts of European interaction with the indigenous population.

It's not big. The leather-bound volume fits easily in the hands of Patrick Coleman, the Historical Society's acquisitions curator. It's in French and titled "Voyages et Descouvertures Faites en la Nouvelle France." 


"For ease of translation, we do a have a 50-year-old translation of the book in our collection," said Coleman. The subtitle, he said, is "Being an Account of Encounters with the Savages and a Description of the Country with a History of the Many Remarkable Things that Happened in the Years 1615-1618."

Coleman said the author, Samuel de Champlain, was first and foremost an explorer who made more than 20 trips to the New World.  He founded Quebec City, and he traveled through the eastern Great Lakes area, described at the time as New France. All of it went into his account, including his interactions with people he met, including the Huron.


"And Europe was just hungry for information about the Native people here, so he was fulfilling that need," Coleman said.


He was also a soldier and a diplomat who worked to make alliances with the Native people he met.

"So he is basically setting a course for how Europeans would interact with the people they met here in New France, and in our area, the western Great Lakes," Coleman explained.

Champlain never came close to what was to become Minnesota, but later European explorers such as Father Hennepin built upon his experiences. That is why this account is so important for the collection, Coleman said.

The book, which includes ornate illustrations based on Champlain's descriptions of Native life, needs a little restoration. But Coleman said he expects it will be available to the public in a matter of weeks.

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The 1619 volume records the experiences of Samuel de Champlain, who traveled the eastern Great Lakes region.

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