An analysis of the 17-th century map ‘novvelle france’

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the manuscript map ‘Novvelle France’ now located at the Ministry of Defence, Taunton, England. It is one of the few maps of New France that depicts the growth of geographical knowledge between the publication of Champlain’s last map (1632) and those of Nicolas Sanson (1650-57), and it is the earliest surviving map on which an attempt was made to give the locations of native groups. As such, the map is an important historical document that can be used to approximate the human geography of native Canada prior to the dispersal of these groups by 1650. The evidence suggests that the map was drafted late in 1641 using Champlain’s 1632 map, a ‘Huron map’ acquired or compiled by the Jesuit Father Paul Ragueneau in 1639 or 1640, and information supplied by two Frenchmen who had been in the Mohawk country from 1640 to 1641 as captives of the Iroquois. The native locations and names on the map were incorporated on Nicolas Sanson’s maps of 1656 and 1657. Although the author of the map ‘Novvelle France’ is not known, circumstantial evidence points to the surveyor Jean Bourdon who was active in New France from 1634 on.