[A French Spy's Reconnaissance of the American Frontier] Voyage dans l'Amerique Septentrionale, ou Description Des Pays arrosés par le Mississipi, l'Ohio, le Missouri et autres rivières affluentes; observations exactes sur les cours et les sondes de ces riviéres; sur les villes, villages, hameaux et fermes de cette partie du Nouveau-Monde. Par feu le General Collot

Georges Henri Victor Collot

Edité par Georges Henri Victor Collot, 1826

A propos de cet article

The Very Rare Atlas to Accompany the Reconnaissance and Espionage Mission and Exploration of Western Interior of the United States by French Spy General Victor Collot. In Original Blue Paste Paper Wrappers. Com. Folio. Original French blue pastepaper wrappers with printed title label "Voyage dans l'Amerique septentrionale - Atlas." Very rare thus, with spine chipped, somewhat loose and worn, but very clean and nice. Title and contents leaf in French. 36 engravings by Tardieu comprising: 11 fine maps (10 folding, one double-page), 14 engraved plans, 11 engraved plates (8 views and 3 portraits of Native Americans). An absolutely beautiful, unsophisticated copy in its original state. The Very Rare Atlas to Accompany the Reconnaissance and Espionage Mission and Exploration of Western Interior of the United States by French Spy General Victor Collot. In Original Blue Paste Paper Wrappers. Completely Unsophisticated. A remarkable example, in the original blue wrappers, of the rarest and most desirable atlases of Western American exploration - containing a suite of beautifully engraved maps, plates and views, summarizing the American frontier at the end of the 18th century, before its detailed exploration by Lewis & Clark and their colleagues. This atlas has an intriguing publishing history, described below, which has added to its allure. Georges Henri Victor Collot's atlas draws on his exhaustive first-hand surveying, which he conducted at great personal risk during the spring and summer of 1796, as well as a state-of-the-art compilation of maps and travel accounts (most unpublished) covering the areas that he did not visit. Collot's work was specifically aimed at assisting France in the event of its reoccupation of Louisiana and potential expansion throughout all of North America, west of the Alleghenies. He undertook his expedition as a secret agent of France - a key participant in the barely concealed great power struggle for the region, which pitted the United States, Revolutionary France, Spain, and the United Kingdom against one another. Despite the exceptional quality of Collot's cartography, his work became politically uncomfortable following the Louisiana Purchase. It was suppressed for over twenty years until finally published by the Parisian firm of Arthus Bertrand in 1826. The suppression of the work added to its present mystique. On Napoleon's orders, Collot was supposed to go with General Claude P. Victor to reoccupy Louisiana in 1802. However, that expedition never sailed, and Collot died in Paris three years later. Historical Context In 1763, the territory west of the Mississippi River was ceded to Spain by France, while the lands east of the river were ceded to Britain. In 1783, the lands east of the Mississippi formally became territory of the United States, although American possession of the region was tenuous at best. The mainly Francophone inhabitants of the Mississippi Valley had little affinity for Anglo-American rule, and their frontier lifestyle made them virtually impossible to control. It was in this context that, after the French Revolution, the government of post-Revolutionary France schemed to reacquire France's lost American territories. The Directoire had a tenuous relationship with the United States, which in 1796 was slowly building toward the Quasi-War. France's relations with Spain and Britain were similarly fraught. As such, the possibility of supporting an insurrection by the French-speaking inhabitants of frontier America was considered by many to be a viable means for France to regain Louisiana and the Illinois Country. In 1796, the Directoire, acting through the French ambassador to the United States, Pierre-Auguste Adet, enlisted General Georges Henri Victor Collo.

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Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: [A French Spy's Reconnaissance of the American Frontier] Voyage dans l'Amerique Septentrionale, ou Description Des Pays arrosés par le Mississipi, l'Ohio, le Missouri et autres rivières affluentes; observations exactes sur les cours et les sondes de ces riviéres; sur les villes, villages, hameaux et fermes de cette partie du Nouveau-Monde. Par feu le General Collot
• Éditeur: Georges Henri Victor Collot
• Date de parution: 1826
• Reliure: Hardcover
• État de l'article: VG+
• Type de livre: Book
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Antique Maps