Verrazzano, Cartier and Roberval, New Peoples Beyond the Sea


Back Cover

Verrazzano, Cartier & Roberval
Translated by George Tombs

Giovanni da Verrazzano, Jacques Cartier and Jean-François de La Roque de Roberval led several expeditions across the Atlantic between 1524 and 1543, on behalf of King François I of France. This volume contains their exploration narratives, revealing new lands in America, new aboriginal peoples from Florida up to Quebec, and new paradigms of knowledge. Verrazzano notes the physical beauty and strength of the Narrangansett people. Cartier provides one of the first descriptions in European literature of treating scurvy with evergreen needles and bark (an Iroquoian remedy), which he compares to the Tree of Life in Paradise. But while the three explorers capture this “brave new world” in compelling language, they are also keen on taking captives, booty and territory for themselves, and for France.