Le Détail de la France sous le règne présent

12mo, 276 pp., 264 pp.

Full tawny calf, gilt armorial bearings in center of boards, spine with raised bands decorated with a crowned monogram, red morocco title label, decorated edges, red edges. Contemporary binding.

162 x 90 mm.

Boisguilbert, le Pesant de, Pierre. The Detail of France, Under the Current Reign. Expanded in this new Edition with several Memoirs & Treatises, on the same subject. First part - Second part. S.l., 1707.

First edition with continuous pagination of Boisguilbert’s Works; the most complete. Two other editions with separate pagination were published in the same year 1707, a few months earlier. The year 1707 saw the release of another major book in political economy: “Vauban’s Royal Tithe.” Part of this text had appeared for the first time in 1695.

Einaudi, 581; Barbier, I, 1882, 913-914; Kress, no. 2542; INED, no. 581; Frère, I, p. 121; Bluche, pp. 209-210; Lévy (Y.), Library of Political Philosophy and Economics, no. 42; Vignes, Library of Political Economy, no. 18.

An important work that paved the way for 18th-century political economy. This text constitutes a first protest against the economic system of the time and a demand for freedom for trade and agriculture. The Supplement is fundamental. It was the origin of the decree of March 14, 1707, which condemned Boisguilbert’s book.

“Boisguilbert (1646–1714), who, in his capacity as an administrator, like his friend Vauban, had a deep knowledge of the living conditions of the people, was essentially a ‘humanitarian’. Despite his sympathies for agricultural protectionism, he had abandoned much of mercantilism [as taken to its extreme by Colbert (Bluche)]. He attributed the slow population growth to general poverty, which itself was caused by the tax system and obstacles placed on economic activity… Like Vauban, he in a way anticipated Malthus’ thesis regarding the dependent relationship between population growth and food supply. In this way, he shared the views of writers who, after him, called for agrarian reforms and humane treatment for workers, and he accepted the ‘laissez-faire’ philosophy of the writers of the second half of the eighteenth century…” (Spengler).

In “The Detail of France,” Boisguilbert presents the most complete and striking picture of the disastrous consequences of continuous wars and financial disorder. The cause of the decline in wealth is clearly indicated: consumption is ruined by the rapacity of tax collectors, extraordinary affairs, the uncertainty and injustice of the taille (land tax), the arbitrariness of other taxes, the costly formalities of internal and external customs, and the abuses and frauds of officials.

Proclaiming the crucial importance of consumption, he makes it the starting point of all income. Without mentioning the curious historical details that Boisguilbert provides about the financial administration of his time; without insisting on the insight with which he, through the abuses and privileges of all kinds, succeeds in identifying the principle of proportionality of taxes, the advantages that arise from their moderation and the benefits derived by both sovereign and subjects, it is enough for his memory that he is counted among the forerunners of political economy. All the elements of the physiocrats’ doctrine are, in fact, found in his writings, which had a considerable influence on economic ideas in the eighteenth century.

Boisguilbert was close to Chamillart, Vauban, and Colbert. Voltaire would later criticize Boisguilbert for blaming Colbert for “the languor which began to be felt in the nerves of the State.”

He was born in Paris on February 14, 1655; he received the abbey of Bec and the rich priory of La Charité-sur-Loire at the age of 10; he became a Doctor of Theology in Paris and joined the Académie française on November 3, 1678, at age 23, and the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, of which he was one of the founders. Named coadjutor to the Archbishop of Rouen in February 1680, he was consecrated Archbishop of Carthage, in partibus, the following August 4, and governed the diocese of Rouen from that time, becoming its titular head on January 27, 1691. He died in Paris on December 10, 1707. (O. Hermal, pl. 1298).

This important work, opening the way for eighteenth-century French political economy and endowed with a prestigious provenance, in remarkable condition, has always attracted the justified interest of collectors. It was sold for €19,000 in June 2008 (and unfortunately poorly described seven years later, with an error about its provenance).