143 - [TRAVEL]. HENNEPIN (Louis). NEW DISCOVERY OF A VERY LARGE COUNTRY LOCATED IN AMERICA, between New Mexico, and the Arctic Ocean, with the necessary maps and illustrations, as well as its natural and social history, and the benefits that may be derived from the establishment of colonies. Utrecht, Guillaume Broedelet, 1697. In-12 brown calfskin, ribbed spine divided into compartments and decorated with gilt fleurons, fawn-colored title label, gilt roulette on the edges, edges speckled with red (contemporary binding); engraved frontispiece title, (35) leaves including printed title, preface, notice to the reader, and table of contents, 506 pp. [i.e., 516 pp., 10 pp. numbered “313*” inserted between pages 312 and 313], 2 maps and 2 plates out of text. Binding rubbed, with tears and small areas of leather missing from the caps; gilt lettering on the spine faded; 3 corners worn; lower edge water-stained and eroded by 1 or 2 mm; a small light-brown water stain on the lower margin of the text block; none of this affects the text or the engravings; old reinforcement at the fold of the first map; a few old handwritten annotations in the margins, . FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE GREAT CLASSIC ACCOUNTS OF THE EXPLORATION OF NORTH AMERICA, dedicated to William III of England. The illustrations include a TITLE-FRONTISPICE depicting a Native American, 2 LARGE FOLD-OUT MAPS of the regions between New Mexico and the Arctic Ocean, as well as 2 PLATES, one depicting a bison, the other depicting NIAGARA FALLS, which is the FIRST PUBLISHED ENGRAVED REPRESENTATION of it. The frontispiece (with a tiny paper loss in the lower margin), the two maps, and the two plates are in fine condition. Récollet missionary and companion of Cavelier de La Salle, Louis HENNEPIN (1626–1704) draws here on material from his 1683 *Description of Louisiana*, expanding it notably with an alleged descent of the Mississippi to its mouth—an account whose veracity has been hotly contested. The work remains an IMPORTANT SOURCE for the history of the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley. A GOOD COPY, preserved in a contemporary binding, complete with all its leaves and plates. AS IS. ¶ Provenance: Handwritten bookplate “G. W. Alberti / Amaelod. 1747” in the side margin of the title page and an oval blue-ink stamp “DOM. S. ALOYS. JERSEIENS. S.J.” in the lower right corner of the title page from the library of the Maison Saint-Louis in Jersey, of the Society of Jesus - Bibliographic sources: Sabin, 31349 - Church, 762 - Field, 685 - Lande, 423 - Streeter, I-104.