Roman politique sur l'état présent des affaires de l'Amérique, ou lettres de M***, A M***,
Place Published: [France]
Publisher: chez Duchesne, libraire, rue Saint Jacques, au temple du Goût
Date Published: 1756
Edition: 1st Edition
Binding: Hard Cover
[France] First edition, 12mo: xlvii, [1], 352pp. (p. 120 misnumbered 012). Errata: pp. xlv-xlvii. Also with several cancellanda and cancellantia. Undoubtedly printed in France and not in Amsterdam. Brown calf with rubbing and discolouration on both boards, ribbed back, leather label on spine, very small pieces missing at top and bottom of spine, speckled red edges. Good condition.
Attributed by Quérard to Saintard (son of a landowner from Santo Domingo and trustee of the Compagnie des Indes), see NUC pre-1956 imprints; also Echeverria and Wilkie, French image of America, 756/40; Brown, Bibliotheca Americana, III: 1138; Chadenat 4121 (“Intéressant pour l’origine de la guerre du Canada”); Higgs 1501; INED 4034; James Ford Bell Library S61; Kress 5567; Conlon 56: 1257; and Sabin 75520. Saintard was also the author of: Essai sur les colonies françaises, ou Discours politiques sur la nature du gouvernement, de la population et du commerce de la colonie de S. D (1754); and Lettres d'un citoyen sur la permission de commercer dans les colonies, annoncée pour les puissances neutres (1756). In 1763, he was a member of the Superior Council of Port-au-Prince and deputy of this Council to the Colonial Assembly of Cape Town.
This scarce work, presented in the form of an epistolary novel (a series of eighteen letters dated from July to September 1756), was written at the outbreak of the 7 Years’ War, a global conflict fought between France and Britain in Europe, North America, and the Caribbean. Specific letters address issues such as “De l’Équilibre du Canada & des Colonies Septentrionales de L’Angleterre” (Lettre VI). To preserve peace in Europe, the author advocated a balance of power, the avoidance of conflict in the French and British colonies, freedom of the seas, and the promotion of trade and commerce. Needless to say, his point of view was ignored by the warring factions.
Book on consignment with LDRB.
Good. Item #8640
$675.00 USD
$923.02 CAD