Rosanna Mullins Leprohon’s The Manor House of De Villerai, A Tale of Canada Under the French Dominion is a literary milestone—it is the first Canadian historical novel, in English or French, to rewrite the conquest of the French Canadians from the perspective of history’s vanquished. Its revisionary account of the fall of New France is framed around a love triangle between the heroine, Blanche De Villerai, her childhood betrothed, Gustave de Montarville, and Blanche’s servant, Rose Lauzon. Popular in its original serial publication and once widely reprinted in French translation, but now out of print, The Manor House of De Villerai is a long-overlooked Canadian classic.
In addition to the text originally serialized in the Family Herald magazine, this Broadview Edition includes extensive documents on the novel’s reception, Leprohon’s historical sources and literary precedents, and maps and art from the period.
Comments
“This Broadview edition of Rosanna Leprohon’s The Manor House of De Villerai belongs in the library of every student of early Canadian literature. Professor Cabajsky’s comprehensive and erudite introduction is extremely useful, as is her splendid assemblage of contemporary reviews, historical sources, and various visual documents, which allow for rich contextual reading. The text is meticulously edited and copiously annotated according to Broadview’s usual high standards.” — Janice Fiamengo, University of Ottawa
“This publication of The Manor House of De Villerai, the first of Rosanna Leprohon’s three historical novels, represents a welcome milestone in Canadian literary history. Never before issued in book form following its initial serialization in 1859-60, this hitherto neglected narrative, set in the era of the British conquest of Quebec, expresses many of the social and political concerns that shape Leprohon’s best-known work, Antoinette de Mirecourt (1864). Andrea Cabajsky’s excellent editing shows how this novel provides important insights into contemporary debates about cultural self-preservation as it presents the French-Canadian perspective to English-Canadian readers.” — Carole Gerson, Simon Fraser University
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Rosanna Mullins Leprohon: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text
The Manor House of De Villerai, A Tale of Canada Under the French Dominion
Appendix A: Contemporary Reception of Leprohon’s Works
- From Susanna Moodie, “Editor’s Table,” Victoria Magazine
(June 1848)
- From George P. Ure, “Prospectus of The Family Herald,” The
Family Herald (16 November 1859)
- From George P. Ure, “Our First Number,” The Family Herald
(16 November 1859)
- From Henry J. Morgan, “Mrs. Leprohon,” Sketches of
Celebrated Canadians (1862)
- From Edmond Lareau, Histoire de la littérature canadienne
(1874)
- From Anon., “The Late Mrs. Leprohon,” Canadian Illustrated News (4 October 1879)
Appendix B: Commentary on Canadian Literature and Nationality
in the Confederation Period
- From Thomas D’Arcy McGee, “The Mental Outfit of the New Dominion,” Gazette (Montreal) (5 November 1867)
- From John T. Lesperance, “The Literary Standing of the Dominion,” Canadian Illustrated News (24 February
1877)
- From Edmond Lareau, Histoire de la littérature canadienne (1874)
Appendix C: Literary Precedents
- From Samuel Richardson, “Preface by the Editor,” Pamela; or,
Virtue Rewarded (1740)
- From Sir Walter Scott, “A Postscript, Which Should Have Been
a Preface,” Chapter XXIV of Waverley; or, ’Tis Sixty Years Since
(1814)
- From John Richardson, “Introductory,” Chapter 1 of Wacousta;
or, The Prophecy: A Tale of the Canadas (1832)
Appendix D: Historical Sources
- From Colonel Malcolm Fraser, Extract from a Manuscript Journal, Relating to the Siege of Quebec in 1759 (1759; rpt. 1866)
- From William Smith, “Preface,” History of Canada; From Its Discovery to the Peace of 1763 ([1815] 1826)
- From William Smith, [“The Battle of Fort Ticonderoga,”] History of Canada; From Its Discovery to the Peace of 1763 ([1815] 1826)
- From François-Xavier Garneau, “Preliminary Discourse,” History of Canada, From the Time of Its Discovery Till the Union Year(1840-1), Volume 1 (1845; tr. 1860)
- From François-Xavier Garneau, [“The Fall of Quebec,”] History of Canada, Volume 2 (1846; tr. 1860)
Appendix E: Historical Documents
- From General James Wolfe, “Major-General Wolfe to the Earl
of Holdernesse. On Board the Sutherland, at Anchor off Cape
Rouge, September 9, 1759” ([1759] 1838)
- Article IV, Treaty of Paris (1763)
- From John George Lambton, First Earl of Durham, Report on
the Affairs of British North America, from the Earl of Durham, Her
Majesty’s High Commissioner (1839)
- From Parliamentary Debates on the Subject of the Confederation of
the British North American Provinces (1865)
- Hon. George-Étienne Cartier, Attorney General East
(Montreal East)
- Hon. Thomas D’Arcy McGee, Minister of Agriculture
(Montreal West)
- Hon. L. Letellier de St. Just (Grandville)
- Hon. H.G. Joly (Lotbinière)
- Mr. C.B. de Niverville (Three Rivers)
Appendix F: Contemporary Maps and Illustrations
- From Reuben Gold Thwaites, “Eastern North America (1740),” France in America, 1497-1763 (1905)
- John Henry Walker, “Engraving. Winter Attack on Fort William Henry, 1757”
- Anon., “A View of the Taking of Quebec September 13th 1759”
Select Bibliography
Andrea Cabajsky is Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and English at the Université de Moncton.