French Image of America

This work attempts to provide complete descriptions of all works in French that touch on the original thirteen British North American colonies and the U.S. through 1815. Included are works originally published in other languages and then translated into French, works published in France by American residents in that country, and works published by Frenchmen in the U.S. Each of the over 3,000 entries includes a complete title transcription, a pagination statement, notes, and locations of copies. Use of the work is facilitated by author/title, subject, and translator indexes. Almost all entries were prepared from actual physical examination of the books. Documented here are the printed materials that provided the information and the misinformation from which French readers constructed their image of the British North American colonies and the U.S., and the various expressions of this image and their diffusion throughout Europe and back to America. The image had many aspects, and the writings embodying it embrace a wide variety of genres and disciplines—novels, poetry, drama, politics, diplomacy, exploration, travel, biography, religion, ethnology, especially medicine and natural history. Along with helping those who study the American influence on French and other European thought and events, this guide will aid librarians, booksellers, and collectors who require physical descriptions of books.