It may be regarded as a fortunate circumstance that we are able to add to
the Society's publications this volume of RADISSON'S VOYAGES. The
narratives contained in it are the record of events and transactions in
which the author was a principal actor. They were apparently written
without any intention of publication, and are plainly authentic and
trustworthy. They have remained in manuscript more than two hundred years,
and in the mean time appear to have escaped the notice of scholars, as not
even extracts from them have, so far as we are aware, found their way into
print. The author was a native of France, and had an imperfect knowledge of
the English language. The journals, with the exception of the last in the
volume, are, however, written in that language, and, as might be
anticipated, in orthography, in the use of words, and in the structure of
sentences, conform to no known standard of English composition. But the
meaning is in all cases clearly conveyed, and, in justice both to the
author and the reader, they have been printed _verbatim et literatim_, as
in the original manuscripts. We desire to place upon record our high
appreciation of the courtesy extended to the Editor of this volume by the
governors of the Bodleian Library and of the British Museum, in allowing
him to copy the original manuscripts in their possession. Our thanks
likewise are here tendered to Mr. Edward Denham for the gratuitous
contribution of the excellent index which accompanies the volume.
EDMUND F. SLAFTER,
_President of the Prince Society_.
BOSTON, 249 BERKELEY STREET,
November 20, 1885.