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This paper assesses the reality and sources of the Constitutionnel's sea serpent case, attributing to this newspaper the authorship of the invention of this journalist's joke (hoax), circulated as a running gag during the 19th century. The subject is not so much the dissemination of sea serpent stories as this problematic attribution, which became traditional in the history of the French press. At the end of our inquiry, after what might seem like a police investigation, it is established that the first mention of a sea serpent indeed really took place in this newspaper in 1817-18, when it was called the Journal du commerce, a paper that had no exclusivity in the dissemination of this hoax, which had its source in American papers. Before the digitization of newspapers, it was difficult if not impossible to find brief mentions or even articles on these elusive subjects. It was therefore easy to make fun of them without having to provide any proof or justification.
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During the second half of the seventeenth century, the imagination underpinning the exploration of the North American continent remained haunted by the rumours of marvels that had been circulating in Europe since the time of Marco Polo. As well, the Spanish abuses of the preceding century in South America and Mexico hinted at, and fuelled hopes of, fabulous riches that could be had beyond the Laurentian basin once the passage to them was discovered. But little by little, such hopes were dashed thanks to more accurate maps of roads from the north and south. There remained the road from the west: documents surrounding the exploration of the Mississippi basin, Hennepin's accounts in particular, revealed that in the late seventeenth century, the idea of passage gave way to that of empire. Tenacious, the desire for wealth and power would finally take root in American soil. Not in vain did La Salle pursue his dream of China: in the end, an empire would rise from his very explorations!
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