French voyagers chronicled Newfoundland's evolution from a colony to a nation through vivid accounts from sailors, naval officers, diplomats, scientists, and artists. Their writings reveal a dynamic portrait of the island's culture, changing lifestyles, and emerging political landscape over centuries.

From the early 1800s on, we encounter the first French writers to become interested in life in Newfoundland. This anthology provides an image of Newfoundland that was shaped over many years of writings by countless French voyagers—sailors and naval officers, diplomats, scientists, journalists, artists, and other visitors—who described this region and its people for their readers back in France. This collection of their accounts attempts to capture the perception held by French visitors of Newfoundland's transformation from colony to country, of Newfoundlanders and their lifestyle, and of the development of Newfoundland's own political institutions and the changes brought about as France relinquished its historical rights to the English.