THE WORKS OF SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN : VOL. VI
Current Literature
Edited by H. P. Biggar
With this volume the Champlain Society of Toronto finishes the task, begun in 1922, of publishing a complete edition of the writings of the French explorer, Samuel de Champlain. The whole work is a magnificent tribute to Canadian scholarship, as the format of the books is to Canadian book-production. The - society has once again earned the gratitude of all historians and students of Colonial history. The French text and the English' translation are printed on the tipper and lower half respectively of each page, for convenient reference. This volume contains the concluding chapters of the Voyages-1629 to 1632—the Summary of tile Discoveries made in New France, in which Champlain deals with the claims of the French and the English, the Treatise on Seamanship, and identification tables of Champ- lain's maps. There are appendices of miscellaneous docu- ments and an index to the whole work. While this is primarily a scholar's edition—and, as such, indispensable— the excellence of the writing and the fascination of the matter should commend it to' a much wider circle of readers. From the Voyages, written in an intimate and vivid style, from the fairness of the Summary, from the Treatise (his remarks on the conduct of a commander towards his superiors, his men and his foes are as valuable now as in the seventeenth century) we get a picture of a great explorer and a great and wise man. Mr. H. P. Biggar, the editor, Mr. J. Home Cameron who collated the texts, the late Mr. W. D. Le Sueur and Mr. H. H. Langton, the translators, have put us greatly in their debt.
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