An excellent sudy of the institutions of New France is provided by Marcel Trudel, Introduction to New France (Toronto: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1968). Brief descriptions of society and the social scene are contained in Guy Fregault, Canadian Society in the French Regime (Ottawa, Canadian Historical Association, 1954, Historical booklets, No. 3); Chapter 4, "Institutions and Environment", pp. 60-82, and Chapter 5, "Society and the Frontier", pp. 83-102 in W.J. Eccles, The Canadian Frontier 1534-1760 (Montreal: Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1969), Chapter 5, "The Long Peace 1730-1744", pp. 118-147, of the same author's France in America (Vancouver: Fitzhenry and Whiteside, 1973), and his two published lectures, Canadian Society during the French Regime (Montreal: Harvest House, 1968). These three works are all available in paperback. The succinct study by Marcel Trudel, The Seigneurial Regime (Ottawa: Canadian Historical Association, 1960, Historical booklets, No. 6) is essential reading for an understanding of the land tenure system that dominated society.
There are several travellers' accounts of life in New France. By far the most interesting and percipient, is that by Peter Kalm, a Finnish professor of botany who traveled through the English colonies and New France in the mid-eighteenth century. A paperback edition of the English translation, edited by Adolph B. Benson, in two volumes, is entitled The America of 1750; Peter Kalm's Travel in North America. The English Version of 1770 (New York: Dover Publications, 1966).
The domestic furnishings of the colony are discussed and illustrated in exemplary fashion by Jean Palardy, The Early Furniture of French Canada (Toronto: Macmillan, 2nd rev. ed., 1965). A paperback edition is available. The architecture of lower town Quebec is illustrated and discussed in the pamphlet produced by the MinistÅre des Affaires Culturelles du QuÄbec, SÄrie Place Royale, Michel Gaumond, Place Royale; Its Houses and their Occupants (QuÄbec: MinistÅre des Affaires Culturelles, 2nd ed. rev. and corr., 1972). The best study of early French Canadian architecture is still that by Ramsay Traquair, The Old Architecture of Quebec; a study of the buildings erected in New France from the earliest explorers to the middle of the nineteenth century (Toronto: Macmillan, 1947). Unfortunately, this work has long been out of print. The Old Silver of Quebec (Toronto: Macmillan, 1940, reprint 1973) by the same author is rather slight but useful. Jean Trudel of the National Gallery has written an excellent study of silver which is available from the Marketing Services Division, National Museums of Canada, Ottawa K1A 0M8, Silver in New France (cat. no. 501-156E, 1974) and L'orfÅvrerie en Nouvelle-France (cat. no. 501-157F, 1974). Jean Trudel's book on the Ursuline Chapel in Quebec City is interesting and well illustrated, Un Chef d'oeuvre de l'art ancien de QuÄbec: la chapelle des Ursulines (QuÄbec: Presses de l'UniversitÄ Laval, 1972). For an amusing anecdotal look at the history of Montreal, students would enjoy Edgar Andrew Collard, Montreal: The Days That Are No More (Toronto: Doubleday, 1976).
SUGGESTED FRENCH READING LIST
W.J. Eccles, La sociÄtÄ canadienne sous le rÄgime franìais (MontrÄal, Harvest House, 1968)
W.J. Eccles, Le gouvernement de la Nouvelle-France (Ottawa, SociÄtÄ historique du Canada, 1966, Brochures historiques, no 18)
Joseph Noel Fauteux, Essai sur L'industrie au Canada sous le rÄgime franìais (Quebec, A. Proulx, 1927,2 vol)
Louis Franquet, Voyages et mÄmoires sur le Canada (QuÄbec, imprimerie gÄnÄrale A. CÖtÄ et Co, 1889)
Guy Fregault, La sociÄtÄ canadienne sous le rÄgime franìais (Ottawa, SociÄtÄ historique du Canada, 1954, Brochures historiques, no 3)
Guy Fregault, Le XVIIIe siÅcle canadien; Ätudes (MontrÄal, Les Editions HMH, 1968)
Michel Gaumond, La Place Royale; ses maisons, ses habitants (QuÄbec, MinistÅre des Affaires culturelles, 1972, Civilisation du Quebec, 5, Serie Place Royale)
Peter Kalm, Voyages de Kalm en AmÄrique septentrionale (MontrÄal, Impr. par T. Berthiaume, 1880, MÄmoires de la SociÄtÄ historique de MontrÄal, 7-8)
Michel Lessard et Huguette Marquis, EncyclopÄdie de la maison quÄbÄcoise (MontrÄal, Editions de l'Homme, 1972, EncyclopÄdie de l'homme, 4)
Lettres au cher fils; correspondance d'Elisabeth Begon avec son gendre 1748-1753 (MontrÄal, Hurtubise HMH, 1972, Collection Reconnaissances)
GÄrard Morisset, L'architecture en Nouvelle-France (QuÄbec, s.n., 1949, Collection Champlain)
Jean Palardy, Les meubles anciens du Canada franìais (MontrÄal, Cercle du Livre de France, 1971)
Emile Salone, La colonisation de Ia Nouvelle-France; Ätudes sur Ies origines de la nation canadienne-franìaise (Paris, E. Guilmoto, 2e Äd. rev. et corr., 1906, reimprimÄ par BorÄal Express ê Trois-RiviÅres, 1970)
Robert-Lionel SÄguin, La civilisation traditionnelle de "l'habitant" aux 17e et 18e siÅcles: fonds matÄriels (MontrÄal, Fides, 1967, 2e Äd. rev., 1973)
Marcel Trudel, Atlas de la Nouvelle-France. An Atlas of New France (QuÄbec, Presses de l'UniversitÄ Laval, 1968, Äd. rev., 1973)
Marcel Trudel, Initiation ê la Nouvelle-France; histoire et institutions (MontrÄal, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971)
Marcel Trudel, Le rÄgime seigneurial (Ottawa, SociÄtÄ historique du Canada, 1968, Äd. rev. et augm., 1971, Brochures historiques, no 6)
1993 Update
SOCIAL LIFE IN NEW FRANCE
W.J. Eccles
Eccles, W.J. The Canadian Frontier 1534-1760. Rev. ed. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1983.
Eccles, W.J. France in America. Rev. ed. Toronto, 1990.
Gadoury, Lorraine. La noblesse de Nouvelle-France - Familles et alliances. MontrÄal, 1992.
Landry, Yves. Orphelines en France, pionniÅres au Canada - Les filles du roi au XVIIe siÅcle. MontrÄal, 1992.
Miquelon, Dale. New France 1701-1744: "A Supplement to Europe." Toronto, 1987.
Moogk, Peter N. Building a House in New France. Toronto, 1977. Moogk has published several lengthy articles in such scholarly journals as The William and Mary Quarterly.
