ARREST DU CONSEIL D'ESTAT DU ROY, DU 13 MARS 1725. ET LETTRES PATENTES SUR ICELUY, DONNEES A VERSAILLES LE 29 MAY 1725. PORTANT ESTABLISSEMENT DE DEUX BUREAUX DE CONTROLLE DANS LES VILLES DE LIMOGES & DE CLERMONT- FERRAND, POUR LA VISITE DES MARCHANDISES PROVENANT DES VENTES DE LA COMPAGNIE DES INDES A NANTES, QUI PASSENT EN TRANSIT DANS LES PROVINCES REPUTEES ESTRANGERES

[Compagnie des Indes]

Published by Paris, 1727

8pp. Quarto, on a folded folio sheet. Very minor foxing. Light soiling along spine edge; minor dampstaining along bottom edge. Contemporary inscription. Very good. A French royal decree establishing two offices to control the inspection of goods from the Compagnie des Indes. "The Compagnie des Indes flourished from 1726 to 1746, paying handsome dividends, and bringing wealth to the ports of Bordeaux, Nantes, Marseille, and, in particular, its home port of Lorient (L'Orient), although it lost its rights in the western hemisphere. It established trading offices in many parts of India, also Canton, Yemen, Persia, Basra and North Africa. The main sources of its wealth were porcelain, wallpapers, lacquer and tea from China, cotton and silk cloth from China and India, coffee from Mocha (Yemen), pepper from Mahé (South India), gold, ivory and slaves from West Africa" - Shakespeare. A variant and unrecorded issue of Wroth 1096, "which cites the 'Lettres Patentes' only, of which but one copy is known to exist, that in the New York Public Library, whereas no edition of the 'Arrest' itself seems to be known" - Maggs. OCLC locates only one copy, at the John Carter Brown Library. Rare. From the library of Cardinal Etienne Charles de Lomenie de Brienne (1727-94), Minister of Louis XVI, Archbishop of Toulouse and of Sens. A friend of Voltaire and a member of the Académie Française, Brienne wielded significant power as head of the Finance Ministry, which earned him many enemies. He died in prison during the French Revolution, despite having renounced Catholicism in 1793 (presumably as an attempt to save his life). MAGGS, FRENCH COLONISATION OF AMERICA 309 (this copy). WROTH, ACTS OF FRENCH ROYAL ADMINISTRATION 1096 (ref). OCLC 79795021. Howard Shakespeare, "The Compagnie des Indes" in the JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL BOND & SHARE SOCIETY (February 1997). Seller Inventory # WRCAM40676

Bibliographic Details

Title: ARREST DU CONSEIL D'ESTAT DU ROY, DU 13 MARS...
Publisher: Paris
Publication Date: 1727