Overview
After two decades of searching for La Salle’s lost ship La Belle, Texas Historical Commission (THC) divers in 1995 located a shipwreck containing historic artefacts of European origin in the silty bottom of Matagorda Bay, off the coast of Texas. The first cannon lifted from the waters bore late seventeenth-century French insignias. The ill-fated La Belle had been found. Under the direction of then-THC Archaeology Division Director James Bruseth, the THC conducted a full excavation of the water-logged La Belle. The conservation was subsequently completed at Texas A&M University’s Conservation Research Laboratory, resulting in preservation of more than one million artefacts from the wreck. An official naval vessel granted to La Salle by the king of France in 1684, La Belle is still considered a sovereign naval vessel belonging to the French government under international maritime law. A formal agreement negotiated by the French Republic, the Musée national de la Marine, the US Department of State, and the THC allows the ship and artefacts to remain in Texas permanently and to be housed in an exhibit at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, opening October 2014. This richly illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibit. Published for Bullock Texas State History Museum.
Full Product Details
Author: James E. Bruseth ,
James E Bruseth ,
Mark Wolfe ,
Clay Johnson
Publisher: Texas A & M University Press
Imprint: Texas A & M University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 21.60cm
, Height: 1.30cm
, Length: 27.90cm
Weight: 0.585kg
ISBN: 9781623490331
ISBN 10: 1623490332
Pages: 104
Publication Date: 30 August 2014
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
"""A remarkable job assembling a concise, but substantive compendium that is comprehensive in scope and easily readable. 'Extraordinary' seems to be the word best defining the theme of the book. Will inform, delight and - in many instances - captivate anyone interested in history, archaeology, archaeological conservation and, yes, even engineering."" -- International Journal of Maritime History-- ""International Journal of Maritime History"" (3/20/2016 12:00:00 AM)"
A remarkable job assembling a concise, but substantive compendium that is comprehensive in scope and easily readable. 'Extraordinary' seems to be the word best defining the theme of the book. Will inform, delight and - in many instances - captivate anyone interested in history, archaeology, archaeological conservation and, yes, even engineering. -- International Journal of Maritime History-- (03/20/2016)
A remarkable job assembling a concise, but substantive compendium that is comprehensive in scope and easily readable. 'Extraordinary' seems to be the word best defining the theme of the book. Will inform, delight and - in many instances - captivate anyone interested in history, archaeology, archaeological conservation and, yes, even engineering. -- International Journal of Maritime History-- International Journal of Maritime History (3/20/2016 12:00:00 AM)
Author Information
James E. Bruseth, guest curator and catalogue editor, is the former director of the archaeology division at the Texas Historical Commission, USA, which sponsored the excavation of La Belle. Bruseth directed the excavation and serves as the project’s principal investigator. He is coauthor of From a Watery Grave: The Discovery and Excavation of La Salle’s Shipwreck, La Belle (Texas A&M University Press, 2005).
