Marc Lescarbot has made his mark in several widely divergent areas, as historiographer, theatrical producer, and poet. His Histoire de la Nouvelle France (1609) provides the first in-depth view of the New World: including accounts of the major voyages of exploration; life in the colonies, with descriptions of Indian tribes as well as flora and fauna; and an analysis of the philosophical, moral, religious, and socioeconomic implications of the concept of colonization. His Théâtre de Neptune, an aquatic spectacle staged at Port Royal in 1606 (and published in Les Muses, 1609), represents the first European theatrical venture to take place on the North American continent, while his collection of poetry. Les Muses de la Nouvelle France, although of dubious literary merit, constitutes the first body of French-language poetry predominantly written in the New World.

Lescarbot was born in about 1570 in Vervins, Picardy, and educated in Paris, where he...