[FIRE]

The Case of the Merchants-Sufferers, in the Late Dreadful Fire, by the Burning of Sugar, Ginger, Oil, and Sarsarilla [caption title]

[London? 1715]. Broadside. Disbound. Small folio. Early folds and early stab holes in left margin. Some foxing.

A rare leaflet lobbying Parliament on behalf of British merchants who had recently lost £22,500 worth of sugar, ginger, oil, and sasparilla in a great fire. The merchants had just recently imported the goods, paying approximately £3000 in customs. In the present document the merchants petition the House of Commons to allow them to import goods duty-free up to the value of the customs of the goods destroyed. This is among the earliest examples of commercial lobbying literature, which first began proliferating in the lobby of the House of Commons at the time of the accession of King George I and the British general election of 1715. ESTC lists three copies: at the University of London, Oxford, and Harvard.

Goldsmiths 5228.1; Hanson 2169.

Item #21193

Price: $475.00