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ACQUISITIONS
and presented prominently on back is “The Male Sophie Tucker,” Mr. Rikki Paige. Other featured entertainers include Mr. Carmen Novarro, “Exotic Dancer”; Mr. Dale Leslie, “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World”; and Mr. Poppy Lane, “Hilarious Sophistication.” —HEATHER GREEN
Dernieres decouvertes dans I’Amerique....
2075.0289
Although born in Italy, the explorer Henri de Tonti, often spelled “Tonty” (ca. 1650— 1704), spent his childhood in Paris and as a young man joined the French military, serving both as a cadet in the army and as a midshipman in naval campaigns at Toulon and Marseilles. About 1677, his right hand was mutilated in a grenade explosion; thereafter he wore an iron prosthetic covered by a glove, earning him the nickname Bras de Fer, or “Iron Hand.” Tonti joined explorer and fur trader Rene Robert Cavalier, sieur de La Salle (1643-1687), on La Salle’s second mission to Canada in 1678, becoming his loyal lieutenant. Tonti accompanied La Salle on his voyage down the Mississippi River in 1682, during which La Salle claimed all land drained by the river for France, naming the territory Louisiana.
In 1697, Tonti’s lengthy report of his experiences in New France with La Salle (previously submitted to the French minister of the navy, Louis, comte de
Pontchartrain) was published in Paris under the title Dernieres decouvertes dans TAmerique septentrionale de M. de la Sale; Mises au jour par M. le Chevalier Tonti, gouverneur du Fort Saint Louis, aux Islinois. At the time, Tonti protested that the work was not his, but it has been shown that the publication draws extensively on his letters, notes, and reports. This recently acquired book is considered to be the most accurate account of La Salle’s mission to locate the mouth of the Mississippi, his early colonization attempts in the Texas area, and the murder of La Salle by demoralized conspirators among his men. Tonti’s observations and impressions of the native peoples are an important feature.
The first edition of Dernieres decouvertes contained references to pearl fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, and the French government—not wishing this information to become widely known—suppressed this version, replacing it with a second edition lacking these references to the possibly lucrative resource. THNOC’s recently acquired volume is this second edition, but this unique copy contains both the original suppressed pages, referred to in the rare-book trade as a cancelland, as well as the pages that were tipped in to replace them, called a cancel. The library also has a later New York edition, An Account of Monsieur de La Salle’s Last Expedition. . . . (77-2751-RL), reprinted in 1814 from the London edition of 1698. —PAMELA D. ARCENEAUX
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The Historic New Orlean Collection Quarterly
EDITOR
Molly Reid
DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS
Jessica Dorman
HEAD OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Keely Merritt
ART DIRECTION
Alison Cody Design
The Historic New Orleans Collection is a nonprofit institution dedicated to preservin the distinctive history and culture of New Orleans and the Gulf South. Founded in 1966 through the Kemper and Leila William Foundation, The Collection operates as a museum, research center, and publisher in the heart of the French Quarter.
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Priscilla Lawrence
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24 The Historic New Orleans Collection Quarterly