Published before both his own, and Thevet’s, accounts of the French expedition to Brazil in 1555, this rare work describes the infamous siege of Sancerre where Léry was an eye-witness. At once harrowing and matter-of-fact, this is a brilliant account of the siege, (the last where trebuchets were used), peppered with references to Léry’s experiences in the New World, in which he compares conditions in the Brazilian jungle to the less than noble savagery of Europe. It is thus one of the few works to draw from the experiences of the expedition and one of the rare few sixteenth century texts where the difference in Old and New World cultures is examined in counterpoint; the sonnet on the verso of the title being an example:
Qui vouda voir une histoire tragique,Ne lise point tant les livres diversGrecs & Latins, semez par l’univers, Monstrans l’horreur d’ Amerique & d’Afrique.Qu’il jette loeil sur Sancerre l’antique,Il y verra des ennemis pervers,Canons, assaux, coups a tors, a travers.Et tous efforts de la guerriere pique.Combat terrible, & plus cruelle faim,Ou de l’enfant la chair seruit de pain.O ciel ! o terre! o grand Dieu! quel ouvrage!Qu’en moins d’un an un seul lieu face voirPlus de pitiez, que ce que peut avoir Tout l’univers de hideux en partage.
This grisly reference to the occurence of infant cannabalism in Sancerre is later described and juxtaposed with the author’s experiences in the New World at some length, with a particularly gruesome account of a Brazilian barbecue. There are a number of other references, some slight some more lengthy; for instance Lery acknowleges his debt to the Indians when designing a hammock. Borba describes the work as “full of reminiscences of Brazil”.
“Unlike so many other travellers he had no belief in European superiority and [he] establishes many paralells between Europe and the Americas, between Christians and pagans generally to the advantage of the latter” (Speake).
This work is most uncommon and one copy only is recorded to have been sold at auction since 1965. Alden (European Americana), 574/33; Borba I, p46/7 (“This work is very rare”); cf. Speake (Literature of Travel and Exploration) p709.
