A bound group of French manuscripts relating to the commerce of Istanbul and the Eastern Mediterranean. The first and most significant of the manuscripts focuses on the Échelles du Levant, which were trading posts in the Middle East and North Africa belonging to the Ottoman Empire but affording privileges to French merchants. The information it provides is somewhat granular, giving a highly specific insight into French maritime activities in the region during the second half of the eighteenth century.
The volume comprises:
(1) [Short history of commerce in the Échelles du Levant.] Ink on laid paper. Folio. Incomplete. 62pp. A detailed report of the history, decrees, import duties and consuls connected to the Échelles du Levant in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The report is mainly concerned with changes in the “droits de tonnage” levied at the various ports, with the idea that the taxes levied will be sufficient to pay the expenses of maintaining consuls at these various locations: “Il faudroit que le Commerce fut bien miserable si en doublant ce droit et retranchant les depenses superflues il ne suffisoit pas pour soutenir cette depense des consulates…” (“Commerce would have to be very poor if, in doubling this tax and in cutting unnecessary expenses, it would not be enough to support the expenses of the consulates…”)
(2) Commerce du Levant. Extrait d’un mémoire sur le commerce de Constantinople. Ink on laid paper. 4to. 3pp. Short report on commerce in Constantinople (Istanbul), especially relating to “draperie”.
(3) M. Pesselieu (?). Extrait et Raport. Ink on laid paper. 4to. 10 1/4pp. Likewise a short report on commerce in Constantinople (Istanbul), especially relating to “draperie”: “Le commerce de la draperie est le plus considerable et le plus lucratif qu’on puisse faire à Constantinople.” (“The drapery trade is the most importance and the most lucrative in which we can engage in Constantinople.”)
(4) Bureau pour la Correspondence du Commerce. Mémoire. Ink on laid paper. Folio. 3 1/2pp. 24 April 1787. Report and short history concerning Louis de Chénier’s idea to establish a single office “pour réunir, sous les yeux du Ministre des finances, toutes les relations du commerce intérieur, et du commerce maritime…”, including commerce in the Levant (“to unite, in the eyes of the Minister of Finances, all matters of internal and maritime commerce…”). Louis de Chénier (1722-1796) was a French merchant and diplomat who served as “chargé des affaires du Roi à Maroc.”
(5) Commerce du Levant. Observations. Ink on laid paper. 4to. 4pp. Observations on decrees made concerning commerce in the Levant.
(6) Commerce du Levant. Observations. Ink on laid paper. 4to. 3pp. Observations on decrees made concerning commerce in the Levant.
(7) Commerce du Levant. Extrait. Ink on laid paper. 4to. 1 3/4pp. Short note concerning the difficulty that French ships sailing from the Levant are having, as English ships are capturing them.
(8) Commerce du Levant. Extrait. Ink on laid paper. Folio. 4 1/2pp. A expanded extract on the same topic as the preceding.
