Description Topographique De La Province Du Bas Canada, Avec Des Remarques Sur Le Haut-Canada Et Sur Les Relations Des Deux Provinces Avec Les Etats Unis de l'Amerique.
London: Printed for the author, and published by W. Faden. 1815. 1st Edition. 8vo. Very Good. Item #19231
A very nice and quite scarce 1st Edition copy of this "essential" narrative documenting the state of British Canada at the close of the War of 1812, with rare maps and plates not found elsewhere.
"Bouchette,1774 – 1841) was the Canadian Surveyor-General of British North America. He served during the War of 1812. He reviewed the territory of Lower Canada for the Government. From 1805 to 1807 he served with Charles Burton Wyatt as interim Surveyor of Upper Canada. In 1815, he published his great book Topographical Description of the province of Lower Canada, which was the sum of knowledge of the territory for that day. The book, complete with some essential maps, was published in London in English and French, and was updated in English only in 1831–1832. His regional maps and two topographical descriptions of Lower Canada are still considered an essential reference for knowledge of the territory.
"Bouchette returned to Montreal to become Surveyor General of Lower Canada, replacing his uncle Samuel Holland." - wiki
Rebound in modern blue cloth. Square tight binding. Clean interior. Features 16 of the original 17 plates of maps, charts and illustrations, with the missing plate provided in facsimile, that being the map depicting the route from Halifax to the St. Lawrence River. Other maps include a detailed street map of the Town of William Henry, A map of the Battle of the Chateauguay during the War of 1812, a large folding map of the "New Townships on the Grand or Ottawa River". Other plates depict Fort Chambly, Isle aux Noix, the Great Falls on the Saint-Jean River, and others.
664pp, plus appendix and index. Frontis portrait of Bouchette foxed, as are a few of the other plates, though others bright and clean. Small binder's embossed stamp to bottom of front endpaper. Possibly ex-library but only signs are a Stain to rear endpaper and a scuff to lower spine. Presents handsomely in archival Mylar.
Price: $1,100.00