[Manuscript Journal in English Titled:] An Arrêt for Establishing a Council of Commerce, Paris, [29th June] 1700. by [WEST INDIES - FRENCH TRADE] - 1700

1700. Handwritten. Very Good. Leather Bound. Ca. 1700. [ii], 11, 196 pp. Manuscript journal written in a neat and easily legible cursive script in brown ink on laid paper, with the ownership inscription "Sam Browns - 1735." Handsome period dark brown elaborately gilt tooled panelled full calf with gilt title label. Rebacked in period style, some very minor foxing but overall in very good condition. This English translation of the 1700 Paris Arrêt of the King's Council of State for Establishing a Council of Commerce, contains petitions and reports presented by the deputies of the Council of Trade in France to the Royal Council. This manuscript almost certainly pre-dates the printed bilingual version in French and English which was published in Paris in 1701. The main articles contained include: "A memorial concerning the Guinea Company, the commerce of the French colonies in America, the present state of the islands, which the French possess there, & the means of preserving & extending their trade in those parts; with remarks upon the restraining some branches of commerce to certain ports & upon exclusive companies, as also on farms certain commodities, particularly the farms of tobacco and sugar" (this article describes the French colonies in the West Indies including French Guiana, Grenada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint-Kitts, Saint Croix, Dominican Republic, Dominica, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint Martin with details on their size, number of colonists, slaves, conditions of the soil and main settlements and crops also being given). Another article describes French commerce with the Levant and why Marseilles "alone has the privilege of trading thither." Other articles describe how French trade can be restored with Spain and the Northern Countries. While one other important issue discussed is the "scarcity of gold & silver bullion, & the exportation of coin out of the kingdom." France's King Louis XIV of France wanted to restore, improve and expand trade after the Nine Years' War had been concluded with the Treaty of Ryswick and so this Arret represents a comprehensive study of the state of French trade and how these goals could be accomplished..