
Cover of the Jesuit ''Relations'' for 1662-1663
The '''Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France''', commonly abbreviated as the 'Jesuit ''Relations''', are the annual reports which were issued by the superior of the
Jesuit missions in
New France to the Jesuit overseer in
France between the years of 1632 and 1673. Narrative in format, the reports were written in
French and originally intended to inform the procurator of the progress of the conversion work among the
First Nations people of the
New World. Eventually, the reports came to be oriented more towards the general public with the aim of gathering financial support for the missions and to recruit new settlers to the colonies. They remain an important
primary source in the study of the early history of New France and Native societies in the early years of European contact.
Authorship and publication
In Thwaites edition of the Jesuit Relations, the first 'Relation' begins with Marc Lescarbot's "La Conversion des Savvages" published in 1610, but the first official 'Relation' chronologically is Father Pierre Biard's first 'Relation' from 1611.
Beginning in 1632, the ''Relations'' were published annually until 1673.
[1]
Notes
1. Thwaites, p. 41.
Bibliography
★ ''Relations des jésuites: contenant ce qui s’est passé de plus remarquables dans les missions des pères de la Compagnie de Jésus dans la Nouvelle-France.'' Quebec: A. Côté, 1858.
★ Donnely, Joseph P. ''Thwaites' Jesuit Relations: Errata and Addenda.'' Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1967.
★ McCoy, James C. ''Jesuit relations of Canada, 1632-1673: a bibliography''. Paris: A. Rau, 1937.
★
Thwaites, Reuben Gold [editor and translator]. ''The Jesuit '' Relations ''and allied documents : travels and explorations of the Jesuit missionaries in New France, 1610-1791 the original French, Latin, and Italian texts, with English translations and notes.'' Cleveland: Burrows Bros. Co., 1896-1901. In seventy-three volumes.
External links
★
The text of the ''Relations'' in English.
★
A general overview of the ''Relations'' from Library and Archives Canada.
★
A brief account of the publishing and distribution history of the ''Relations'' from Library and Archives Canada.