The article explores the botanical contributions of Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix's book Histoire et description générale de la Nouvelle France vis-à-vis the contributions of previous researchers, his use of iconographic and discursive representations and its relevance to the project of French colonization. It investigates why he refused Linnaeus' taxonomic model and what he intended with his catalogue of botanical curiosities. The unfolding of his philosophical and religious trajectory allows to understand his stance regarding the classification of nature, the meanings of ethnological information, his forms of intellectual appropriation, and his use of discourse and botanical iconography as political and emotional propaganda to encourage colonial settlement.
history of Canada; history and sensibilities; history and nature; Pierre-François-Xavier de Charlevoix (1682-1761); botany
