Books

A complete run, in a contemporary binding, of Defoe's newspaper, issued thrice weekly, and designed to support the proposed Treaty of Commerce with France. Though Defoe denied authorship of the paper, it is generally accepted that he was at least the editor and had a strong role in the thrust and tone of the text. Credit for assistance is sometimes given to Charles Davenant and Arthur Moore. The Anglo-French Treaty of Commerce sought to liberalize trade between the two nations and reduce tariffs. This was controversial, both because it was seen as being cordial to England's historic enemy France, and also because the free-trade nature of the treaty seemed to undermine the prevailing mercantilist doctrine that the English economy needed protection. The Mercator skilfully defends the treaty on the same mercantilist grounds, arguing that the benefits of further exports would outweigh the costs of further imports. "To prove that the balance of trade, in spite of a prevailing impression to the contrary, not only might be, but had been, on the side of England, was the chief purpose of Mercator. The Whig Flying Post chaffed Mercator for trying to reconcile impossibilities, but Mercator held stoutly on with an elaborate apparatus of comparative tables of exports and imports, and ingenious schemes for the development of various branches of the trade with France. Defoe was too fond of carrying the war into the enemy's country, to attack prohibitions or the received doctrine as to the balance of trade in principle; he fought the enemy spiritedly on their own ground" (Minto, p. 100). Thus, rather than presenting later free-trade arguments that both nations would benefit, the paper argued that the French would be disadvantaged once English manufactures entered the country: "it followed, upon the received commercial doctrines, that the French King was making a great concession in consenting to take off high duties upon English goods. This was precisely what Defoe was labouring to prove. 'The French King in taking off the said high duties ruins all his own manufactures'. The common belief was that the terms of peace would ruin English manufacturing industry; full in the teeth of this, Defoe, as was his daring custom, flung the paradox of the extreme opposite" (ibid., p. 101). Copies, either of a complete or incomplete run, are uncommon - ESTC locates nine institutional holdings in Britain, but of these four are in the British Library and two in the Bodleian. ESTC adds a further six in the US, and one in Queensland. On the market, Rare Book Hub locates two copies appearing post-war, both at Sotheby's, one an incomplete set, and the second being this copy, in the sale of the library of the Earls of Haddington. With the armorial bookplate to the front pastedown of George Baillie (1644-1738), dated 1724 and noting his position as Lord of the Treasury (which he held 1717-1725); thence by descent to the Earls of Haddington. ESTC P1414; Furbank & Owens 252; Goldsmiths' 37538; Hanson, 1849; Moore 529. William Minto, Daniel Defoe, 1879. 181 numbers bound in one volume, folio (306 x 194 mm). Each number one folio leaf (except number 63, which is three leaves), printed on both sides, with duty stamp. Contemporary mottled speckled sheep, sympathetically rebacked with brown morocco label, red edges. Neat contemporary price notation to initial binder's blank verso. Joints and extremities neatly restored, covers stripped in places. Duty stamps generally cropped, also occasional cropping to imprints and catch words and very occasionally to main text (never with loss of sense), lightly browned, several numbers turned up at foot, sometimes with short split in gutter, number 96 soiled on verso. A very good copy.