PBA Galleries

xxiv, xlviii, 344pp. Frontispiece portraits. (12mo) 20.1x12.3 cm (8x4¾"), Rebacked with calf spine over original boards; blue silk ribbon detached but included.

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 de Warville was one of the most pro-American French thinkers of the period; he later wrote a well-known work on his American travels, and finally died in the Terror.  This book 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 de Warville 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 future.