VOYAGE DE PEHR KALM AU CANADA EN 1749

In the old English Language Library in Quebec

The steep streets of the historic district of Quebec City make for a popular tourist destination, yet several institutions are nestled within its confines, which make for oases of calm. One such location being 44 Chaussée des Ecossais, which is home to the beautiful Morrin Centre (earlier the Morrin College) which since 1868 has housed The English Language Library. The library itself has an older history which is connected to the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, the very first learned society in Canada, founded in 1824. A place which is a living example of the town’s history and how the Anglo- and Francophone cultures have in parallel, developed the town, for more information: www.morrin.org/en

Within the English Language Library, the “Bridge Builder Expedition’s” representatives found during their visit that amongst the few non-English publications, that the important French publication of Pehr Kalm’s journal “Voyage de Pehr Kalm au Canada en 1749: Traduction annotée du journal de route par Jacques Rousseau et Guy Béthúne avec le concours de Pierre Morisset.” This monograph published in 1977 exists due to the fantastic work of the botanist and ethnobotanist Jacques Rousseau (1905-1970), sadly his work was published posthumously. Like Kalm, Rousseau seems to have understood the importance of interdisciplinary perspectives, a fact which explains his fascination with Kalm’s Journal; with its richly detailed and many times unique onsite descriptions made on his own special interests – the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula and the remote regions of Quebec.

The librarian Camille Morin explains that the book’s unique contents – Kalm’s observations alongside Rousseau’s commentary – is what justifies its inclusion in an otherwise English language collection, where it acts as a key document in the understanding of Canada’s early history.