Les Avantures de Monsieur Robert Chevalier, dit de Beauchene.
Amsterdam: Aux Depens de la …, 1733.
Two volumes in one, duodecimo, five plates, titles printed in red and black with engraved vignettes; occasional ms. marginalia in a neat early hand, a good copy in later half red morocco.
Colourful tale of a Canadian corsair sold into slavery
An attractive copy of the second French edition of this important imaginary voyage and Canadian adventure based on the exploits of Robert Chevalier Beauchêne.
An attractive copy of the second French edition of this important imaginary voyage and Canadian adventure based on the exploits of Robert Chevalier Beauchêne.
Le Sage (1668-1747) was a successful playwright and novelist, now chiefly remembered as the author of the picaresque novel Gil Blas. The novel claims to be derived from notes sent to Le Sage by Beauchêne's widow, and is a heady confection of piratical life set in the wilds of eighteenth-century Canada. Beauchêne is an Indian scout turned coast-prowling pirate, and the narrative recalls his bloodthirsty exploits in duels and ship-boardings, as well as his recollections of being sold into slavery in New England. It is difficult to sort the fact from the fiction in this rollicking tale - the Canadian Encyclopedia comments that Le Sage's work has 'many exaggerations and inaccuracies' - but it is a vivid account, concluding with Beauchêne's return to France with his plundered loot, where he dies in a tavern brawl in Tours.
Condition Report: Slight waterstaining affecting only the margins, head of spine restored.
Price (AUD): $1,100.00
US$731.14 Other currencies