Voyage to New Found Land

Newfoundland, a former British colony, has historically been seen through English imperial eyes. In his entertaining travelogue, French geologist, cartographer, and oceanographer Julien Thoulet portrays the Newfoundland of 1886 from a French Enlightenment and Romantic perspective in which scientific discourse and historical and philosophical reflection are central. In his translation of Thoulet's travelogue, Scott Jamieson remains faithful to the elegance and wit of the original. A Voyage to Newfoundland is full of intriguing detail about the landscape, local culture, origins of place names, flora, oceanography, and state of the French fishery. Several chapters are devoted to the fisheries and controversies over their exploitation - including ominous signs of early failure of the inshore cod fishery. A Voyage to Newfoundland is illustrated with forty-two of Thoulet's own photographs, only four of which were part of the original French publication. Jamieson also provides a detailed introduction and annotations explaining obscure technical and historical references. This book is a timely addition to our understanding of Newfoundland's storied past.