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First editions, presentation copy (Mémoire), of two works on the development of business law in the twilight years of the ancien régime. This copy of Tolozan's Mémoire is inscribed in a contemporary hand "donné par l'autheur M. du Tholozan, Mtre des requêtes" (given by the author, M. du Tholozan, master of requests). Armand Thomas Hüe de Miromesnil (1723-1796), served as Louis XVI's minister of justice from 1774 to 1787. In 1778, he oversaw a comprehensive modernization of the Ordonnance du Commerce, which had remained essentially unaltered for over a century since it was introduced by Louis XIV. The Ordonnance, one of Colbert's major legislative achievements, codified business law throughout the Kingdom of France. It imposed uniform legislative practices for commercial cases, introduced standardized regulations for commercial business practices, and made interest upon interest illegal. Jean-Françis de Tolozan (1722-1802), a state councillor in the Bureau du Commerce and a royal judge (maitre des requêtes) under Louis XV, was one of the six men charged with undertaking Hüe de Miromesnil's project. In the Mémoire, Tolozan outlines a wider survey of French commerce in the ancien régime. During his tenure as minister of justice, Hüe de Miromesnil helped to engineer the downfall of both Turgot and Necker. Goldsmiths' 13839 (Mémoire). 2 works in 1, quarto (252 x 186 mm), pp. [2], 122; 211, [1]. Woodcut vignette to title page and head of first leaf (Mémoire), woodcut headpiece (Projet), large folding table at rear. Contemporary mottled calf, spine ruled and decorated in gilt, with raised bands and red morocco label lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, edges red, green silk ribbon marker. Spine ends and corners professionally restored. Light wear, sporadic minor foxing to contents, loss to lower outer corner of leaf N4: an excellent copy.