ARREST DU CONSEIL D'ESTAT DU ROY, QUI ORDONNE QUE LES GAGES & APPOINTEMENS DES OFFICIERS, COMMIS & EMPLOYEZ AU SERVICE DE LA COMPAGNIE DES INDES, NE SERONT SUJETS A AUCUNES SAISIES NI OPPOSITIONS. DU 4 OCTOBRE 1723

Pari, 1723. 4pp. Quarto, on a folded folio sheet. Very minor dampstaining in lower corner. Contemporary inscription. Near fine. A French royal decree ordering that the appointment of officers in the Compagnie des Indes not be subject to objection or opposition. "The point made by this decree was already made law by the LETTRES PATENTS of March 1696 (see Wroth 358), but is hereby reaffirmed at the request of Nicolas Desprez de Saint-Robert, 'Directeur, Inspecteur & Commandant pour la Compagnie Royale du Senegal & Costes d'Afrique', whose salary had been withheld by the Cashier of the Compagnie des Indies" - Maggs. In 1721 the Compagnie had declared bankruptcy and was reorganized, after the Mississippi Bubble burst. This copy is from the library of Cardinal Etienne Charles de Lomenie de Brienne (1727-94), 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 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 records only one copy, at NYPL, and OCLC adds just one more, at Harvard. Rare. WROTH, ACTS OF FRENCH ROYAL ADMINISTRATION 1033. MAGGS, FRENCH COLONISATION OF AMERICA 280 (this copy). OCLC 82716091. (Inventory #: WRCAM40671)