ARREST DU CONSEIL D'ESTAT DU ROY ET LETTRES PATENTES, QUI COMMETTENT MONSIEUR HERAULT LIEUTENANT GENERAL DE POLICE & MESSIEURS LES CONSEILLES AU SIEGE PRESIDIAL DU CHASTELET, POUR INSTRUIRE & JUGER LE PROCÈS SOUVERAINEMENT & EN DERNIER RESSORT, NON SEULEMENT À CEUX QUI INTRODUIRONT DANS LE ROYAUME DES MARCHANDISES DE CONTREBANDE DE TOILES PEINTES, TABAC EN FRAUDE, FAUX SEL ET AUTRES MARCHANDISE PROHIBÉES.DU 8 MARS 1729 [caption title].

This French Royal decree addresses goods smuggled from America, enjoining judges to be severe not only with smugglers, but with those who shelter them or deal in smuggled goods, including tobacco illegally imported into France. This is a variant of the example cited by Wroth, of which only one copy is located, that at Harvard. No copies of this issue are located in OCLC. Rare. From the library of Cardinal Etienne Charles de Lomenie de Brienne (1727-1794), Minister of Louis XVI, Archbishop of Toulouse and of Sens. A friend of Voltaire and a member of the Académie Française, Brienne wielded significant power as as head of the Finance Ministry, which earned him many enemies. He died in prison during the French Revolution, despite having renounced Catholicism in 1793 (presumably as an attempt to save his life). WROTH, ACTS OF FRENCH ROYAL ADMINISTRATION 1179 (ref). MAGGS, FRENCH COLONISATION OF AMERICA 341 (this copy). Quarto, on a folded folio sheet. Some light foxing and soiling. Contemporary inscription. Very good. …