This new monograph originated from the exceptional discovery, in 1995, of the remnants of this small ship that was part of Cavellier de la Salle’s expedition in 1684. The information given by the ship wreck could then be added to archives information in order to reconstitute in a plausible way this modest ship rightly named LA BELLE, as you can see with her representation on this document cover. This monograph has an archeological, historical and artistic value. It also stems from our concern to continue studying 17th century French naval architecture (see M. de Tourville’s Three-decker ship). Of course, La Belle is much reduced in size, but she is nevertheless a tremendous learning experience.
Hardback Volume
John de Bry wrote the historic part of the book (page 8 to 21), relating Cavellier de la Salle’s life, his 1684 expedition and his tragic death. Then James E. Bruseth and Layne Hedrick relate the ship wreck’s discovery, the use of extensive means to explore it and then they describe the results of the search (pages 22 to 34 ).
The first part being presented by historians and archeologists, the second part is dedicated to reconstituting LA BELLE, first by examining the sources (pages 35 to 46), which are fundamental to this work.
The monograph itself includes twenty plates followed by the rigging rules, illustrated with schemas in order to complement the various drawings and notes.
Jean-Claude Lemineur’s study then deals with the volumetric definition of the hull.
Nearly 90 pages were necessary to constitute a “real construction file” (pages 47 to 134).
The monograph ends with an outstanding series of shots of three models of LA BELLE, built by the talented Bernard Frölich, Henri Defresne and Etienne Piette (pages 135 to 155).

Photos du modèle de M. Frölich (Photographe : Olivier Gatine)

The full set of guns includes all 6 gun and 8 breech-loading swivel gun.

Information: Supplementary plans can only be sold if you already have the complete monograph.

Author : Jean BOUDRIOT Translated by François Fougerat