Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2007 Issue
Books from Northern North America from Helen R. Kahn
Canadian rebel leader Louis Riel.
Item 23 touches on an unfortunate incident in Canadian history. It is Reponse a une adresse de la Chambres des Commons...de s'enquerir de l'etat mental de Louis Riel...published in 1886. Louis Riel was a leader of the Metis people of western Canada, who twice found himself leading a rebellion in Canada. The Metis are a polyglot people, a mixture of descendants of various Indian tribes who married French and English settlers. Many, like Riel, had a notable French background, making him a sympathetic figure in French Canada (Quebec). Riel came to the forefront as a leader of the Red River Rebellion of 1869 in Manitoba, where the Metis clashed with authorities of the new Canadian government. He would escape to the United States, go to Quebec after being pardoned, and then on to Montana. Along the way, he suffered serious mental problems and delusions. However, he would recover enough to lead a second rebellion in Saskatchewan in 1885, and this time rather than being pardoned he was tried and sentenced to death. This book concerns the mental health of Riel, the official investigation launched after he was condemned to death. Riel's conviction was finally revoked by Parliament in 1992. Unfortunately, Riel was hanged in 1885. Too little, too late. $450.
Item 58 is A Journey from Prince of Wales's Fort in Hudson Bay, to the Northern Ocean...for the Discovery of Copper Mines, a North-West Passage etc. in the Years 1769...1772 by Samuel Hearne. This is a first edition, though not published until 1795. Hearn was the first European to travel by land from Hudson Bay to the mouth of the Coppermine River at the Arctic Ocean. That is a long, cold trek. The book was published from Hearne's notes, three years after his death. It describes local natives, natural history, the discovery of Great Slave Lake, and the impossibility of finding a northwest passage through Hudson Bay. $6,950.
You may reach Helen R. Kahn online at www.hrkahnbooks.com, or by phone at 514-844-5344.
