De la France et des États-Unis
The American Revolution and France.
First edition.
An attractive wide-margined copy preserved in its original decorative wrappers.
8vo of XXIV, XLVIII, and 344 pp., untrimmed copy, original decorative wrappers.
215 x 140 mm.
Brissot de Warville, Jacques Pierre. Clavière, Etienne. De la France et des États-Unis, ou de l’importance de la Révolution de l’Amérique pour le bonheur de la France…
London, 1787.
First edition of this important book written to stimulate the economic relations between France and the United States.
Kress, B.1169; Goldsmiths, 13307; Einaudi, 1121; INED, 809 & 1123; Sabin, 13516; Howes, C464.
In 1787 Brissot, St. John de Crèvecoeur, Clavière, and Bergasse founded the Gallo-American Society in Paris, with the aim of strengthening Franco-American relations.
The authors discuss here the commercial relations that could unite France and the United States, including imports and trade: wines, leathers, furs, peaches, tobacco, wheat, silks, salt, whale oil, etc.
There is also mention of the "war against the savages," unrest in the state of Massachusetts, the "emancipation of the Negroes," the Quakers, etc. Dedicated to the American Congress, the work contains in fine a plea for the American political system, with a letter from Calonne to Jefferson.
A highly important work of political economy, published in Paris under a false imprint, and designed to stimulate investment in the United States by the French.
Brissot was one of the most pro-American French thinkers of the period.
This work seeks to enlighten the French and American public about the possibilities for mutually beneficial investments.
Dedicated to the American Congress and the "friends of America in both worlds," it reviews a number of economic issues, such as balance of trade, the superior benefits of French manufactures for American markets, why French wines and oils were better than any that could be produced in the U.S., and a broad range of specific products. Various American products ranging from rice to furs are then discussed. In the end the authors include a prospectus for their proposed "Societe Gallo-Americaine." Claviere and Brissot believed that the example of America's fledgling democracy held the key to France's future.
