BATTLE OF QUEBEC – Mercure Galant dedie' a Monseigneur Le Dauphin. Janvier 1691. Paris: Galerie-Neuve du Palais, 1690.

First known account in print of the 1690 French victory at the Battle of Quebec, in the January 1691 issue of the Mercure Galant. The Mercure Galant, founded in 1672, was an important French periodical issued intermittently and aimed at elite society. Although it specialized in court gossip, fashion, and luxury goods, the present issue includes a description of the failed English assault on Quebec during King William's War (pp. 282-322). After Port Royal in Acadia fell to the English, the shocked French colonists quickly moved to fortify their capital city under the leadership of Governor-General Frontenac. The British were ultimately repelled without any open battle, their ships damaged by French artillery and their troops harassed by the Canadian militia. The account here begins by denying earlier reports that the English had won.

12mo (143 x 84mm). Two folding plates containing music (a few stray marks). Contemporary calf, spine gilt (neatly rebacked, a few chips).