65 - [Policies Concerning Black People]. Declaration by the King Regarding Policies Concerning Black People. Issued at Versailles on August 9, 1777. Registered with Parliament on August 27, 1777. Paris: P.-G. Simon, Printer to Parliament, 1777. Unbound quarto, 8 pp.

[Policies Concerning Black People]. Declaration by the King Regarding Policies Concerning Black People. Issued at Versailles on August 9, 1777. Registered with Parliament on August 27, 1777. Paris: P.-G. Simon, Printer to Parliament, 1777. Unbound quarto, 8 pp. Vignette on the title page and engraved header. First edition of this important royal declaration, which tightened the provisions of the edict of October 1716 and the declaration of December 15, 1738, regarding the presence of Black and people of color in France. Promulgated at the initiative of Antoine de Sartine, Secretary of State for the Navy, this particularly restrictive text comprises 13 articles: it prohibits “Blacks, Mulattos, or other people of color” from entering the kingdom; provides for the deportation to the colonies of those who might be brought into the kingdom after its promulgation; and strictly regulates the conditions under which colonists may come to France accompanied by a servant.