97 - NECKER. FAVRAS. [PETITIONS].

NECKER. FAVRAS. [PETITIONS]. Report to the King by Mr. Necker, Director General of Finance. In January 1781, printed by order of His Majesty [and] COLLECTIONS of various texts. Paris, from the King’s Cabinet Press, 1781 [and] Numerous addresses, 1788–1789. 2 bound volumes in-4, bound identically. Contemporary marbled fawn half-basane. A genuine private first edition, printed in a small number of copies on the presses of the King’s Cabinet, and reserved for royal and official use—likely limited to ministers and members of the King’s Cabinet. There were two other editions published that same year by the Royal Printing Office and intended for public distribution. Necker’s report was the first official report on a government’s economic policy in France; it enjoyed surprising success with the public and greatly contributed to Necker’s reputation. It was to introduce transparency into the workings of the state that Necker published his famous “Report to the King,” in which he detailed the functioning of the royal finances, the principles of their administration, and the country’s financial situation, as well as the moderate reforms he hoped to implement. This publication was a huge success with a public fascinated by the details of public accounts—particularly the expenditures of the royal family and the King, as well as the breakdown of tax revenues. The principles behind the reforms proposed by Necker generated strong public support. Missing from the INED. Kress, B360. [Bound together with the following]: -MARQUIS DE FAVRAS (1746–1790). The Deficit in France’s Finances Overcome by a System of Annual Repayments, Which Will Also, Within Thirty Years, Eliminate the National Debt. 1789, XVI-48-54-50 pp. Favras proposed a reorganization of the royal treasury’s finances and the repayment of the royal debt at a time when France’s financial situation was disastrous; Mirabeau approved this plan. The second volume contains various texts on the pre-revolutionary period and on France’s finances. Missing from the INED. Kress, B360.