Commerce

réf. 18689 — A La Haye, aux dépens de la Compagnie, 1755. xvi, 246 pp. 12mo. Contemporary marbled calf, spine gilt in compartments, red label with gilt lettering, red edges. Kress 5420; Higgs 1029; cf.: INED 884; not in Goldsmiths; not in Einaudi; not in Conlon; Sabin 9602; Howes B.1049; cf.: Leclerc 241; Echeverria & Wilkie 755/5. Edition published in the same year as the first edition. Butel-Dumont argues that Great-Britain owes her power and wealth to the colonies. He analyses the commerce and trade as well as the population of the British colonies at the time of the Guerre du Canada. With the outbreak of the Seven Years War, many of whose battles were to be fought in the New World, considerable curiosity about the British colonies was excited. This was one of the books profiting from this curiosity. It emphasized the phenomenal growth and prosperity of the colonies. 'This is the first extensive French text on the British North American colonies and was occasioned by the heightened tensions preceding the Seven Years War. It gives accounts of the geography, history, religion, government, economics, trade, and products of the several colonies' (Echeverria & Wilkie). According to INED this work was also attributed to Véron de Forbonnais.