[TEXTILES]

The Clothiers Reasons for Petitioning the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament Assembled, for Adding a Clause (Effectually to Oblige All Buyers of Cloth upon Credit, to Give Notes that May Carry Interest, from and after Six Months Date) to the Bill now Depending, Entituled for Amending the Act of Decimo Reginae, relating to Medley Cloth, &c. [caption title]

[London]: 1714. Broadsheet, 14 x 9 inches. [1]p., plus printed docket title on verso. Disbound. Early folds and early stab holes in left margin. Small portion of inner margin excised, with no loss to text. Some foxing and light offsetting.

An early and interesting petition proposing a new set of rules for clothing merchants buying cloth on credit. The document describes the economic relationships between the various branches of the woolen industry (drapers, factors, traders, etc.) and argues that the proposed system will lead to lower prices, employment of the poor, and better British competition against foreigners in the trade. It is among the first examples of commercial lobbying literature, which first began proliferating during the major changes in British government in the mid-1710s. ESTC lists copies at four locations in the U.K. and four in the U.S., at the California State Library, Columbia, Harvard, and Johns Hopkins.

Hanson 1966.

Item #21222

Price: $375.00