Louis Nicolas was a French missionary in Canada in the late-seventeenth and early-18th century. Born August 15, 1634 in Aubenas

Aubenas

Aubenas is a commune in the southern part of the Ardèche department in the Rhône Valley in southern France.It is the seat of several government offices...

, Vivarais

Vivarais

Vivarais is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the département of Ardèche, named after its capital Viviers on the river Rhône...

 (France), this Jesuit priest arrived in New France in 1664 and stayed for eleven years. He was fascinated by the wildlife and Native peoples of the New World, and is believed to have been the author of the hand-drawn book known as the Codex canadiensis

Codex canadiensis

Codex canadensis is the official name of an illustrated book about the native peoples and wildlife in Canada which was written in or about 1700 by a French missionary priest called Louis Nicolas. It is not clear that Nicolas was the creator...

, which documents these subjects. Louis Nicolas is the confirmed author of the books Histoire Naturelle des Indes Occidentales and the Grammaire algonquine. Historians believe that he died in 1682.