Advocates of French-American Commerce

De la France et des Etats Unis, ou de l'Importance de la Revolution de l’Amerique pour le bonheur de la France, des Rapports de ce Royaume & des Etats-Unis ….

London [i.e., Paris?]: 1787.

Price: $2,000.00


About the item

xxiv, xlviii, 344 pp. Advocates of French-American Commerce. Later roan, spine gilt. Modern bookplate on front pastedown. Negligible foxing. Very good plus. Howes C464; Kress B1169; Goldsmiths 13307; ESTC T109594; Sabin 13516.

Item #252583

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; he later wrote a well-known work on his American travels, and later died in the Terror.  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 worked together on a number of political tracts, and both believed that the example of America's fledgling democracy held the key to France's future9.