Skip to main content

The German Translation of Law’s Money and Trade, 1758

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
  • 202 Accesses

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance ((PSHF))

Abstract

This chapter throws light on the importance of translations in the eighteenth century. It analyses Zinzendorf’s German translation of John Law’s economic treatise Money and Trade (1705). The translation was printed in 1758 and entitled Gedanken vom Gelde. It showed Zinzendorf’s interpretation of Law’s ideas and why he thought that more than 50 years later they were still relevant to German readers. Zinzendorf’s book was heavily footnoted and followed the typical pattern of eighteenth-century translations. In Gedanken vom Gelde, Zinzendorf brought Law’s thinking up to date by adding arguments from Montesquieu, from the French writers of Gournay’s circle and from the German debates on monetary matters and currency manipulations of the early 1750s.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD   129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD   129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Eduard Gaston von Pettenegg (ed.), Ludwig und Karl Grafen und Herren von Zinzendorf. Ihre Selbstbiographien nebst einer kurzen Geschichte des Hauses Zinzendorf (Vienna, 1879), p. 62. On language reform, see Grete Klingenstein, Der Aufstieg des Hauses Kaunitz, Studien zur Herkunft und Bildung des Staatskanzlers Wenzel Anton (Göttingen, 1975), pp. 210–14. On the importance of Leipzig in the book trade with France, see Mark Lehmstedt, ‘Über den Anteil des Leipziger Buchhandels am literarischen Austausch zwischen Frankreich und Deutschland. Das Beispiel der Peter Philipp Wolfschen Buchhandlung in Leipzig (1795–1803)’, in Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink, Rolf Reichhardt, Annette Keilhauer and René Lohr (eds.), Kulturtransfer im Epochenbruch. Frankreich-Deutschland 1770 bis 1815 (2 vols. Leipzig, 1997), vol. 1, pp. 403–43.

  2. 2.

    Letter of Ludwig Zinzendorf to Karl Zinzendorf, 20 March 1758, vol. 63, DOZA.

  3. 3.

    Pettenegg (ed.), Selbstbiographien, p. 66.

  4. 4.

    Ibid., p. 59.

  5. 5.

    Grete Klingenstein, ‘Between Mercantilism and Physiocracy. Stages, Modes and Functions of Economic Theory in the Habsburg Monarchy, 1748–63’ in Charles W. Ingrao (ed.), State and Society in Early Modern Austria (West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 1994), pp. 181–214, at p. 197.

  6. 6.

    In addition to Melon’s Essai politique, Zinzendorf translated Sir Josiah Child, probably Brief Observations Concerning Trade and the Interest of Money; David Hume, Political Discourse; Louis-Joseph Plumard de Dangeul, Remarques sur les avantages et les désavantages de la France et la Grande Bretagne; Véron de Forbonnais, Elémens de Commerce, all in Karton 38, Archiv Zinzendorf, NÖLA. Karl read Ludwig’s translation of Elémens: see Diary of Karl Zinzendorf, 6 August 1762, HHStA.

  7. 7.

    Ludwig Zinzendorf, ‘Übersetzung aus dem Englischen des Locke Geld und dessen Ausmünzung und Erhöhung der Münzen, auch die diesfällige Meinung des Herren Lowndes betr.’, Nachlaß Zinzendorf, vol. 93, HHStA. The document is missing from the files.

  8. 8.

    [Ludwig Zinzendorf], Gedanken vom Gelde und von der Handlung, nebst einem Vorschlage dem Geldmangel in Schottland abzuhelfen. Aus dem Englischen übersetzt. Gedruckt bey Johann Thomas Trattnern (Vienna, Prague and Trieste, 1758). For Law’s original text, I have used the reprint in Antoin. E. Murphy (ed.), Monetary Theory: 1601–1758 (6 vols, London, 1997), vol. 5, pp. 3–70.

  9. 9.

    On the success of Trattner, see Ursula Giese, ‘Johann Thomas Edler von Trattner. Seine Bedeutung als Buchdrucker, Buchhändler und Herausgeber’, Archiv für Geschichte des Buchwesens (Frankfurt/Main, 1961), vol. 3, col. 1013–1454.

  10. 10.

    Other economic publications published by Trattner included a translation of Forbonnais’ criticism of physiocracy: Principes et observations économiques (Paris, 1767) and Des Herrn von Fourbonnais Sätze und Beobachtungen aus der Oekonomie, aus dem französischen übersetzt von Wilhelm Ehrenfried Neugebauer (Vienna, 1767).

  11. 11.

    For the growth of publicity of economic titles in France, see Christine Théré, ‘Economic Publishing and Authors, 1566–1789’ in Gilbert Faccarello (ed.), Studies in the History of French Political Economy: From Bodin to Walras (London, 1998), pp. 1–56.

  12. 12.

    Copies can be located as follows: Cod. 232596-A, ÖNB; Cod. 128049192, Carl Menger collection, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo; and Shelf mark: 13.531, Research Library Olomouc. I have used the copy in Olomouc which belonged to Johannes Schulz, a pupil of Josef Sonnenfels. I am grateful to Grete Klingenstein for having pointed out the provenance.

  13. 13.

    John Robertson, The Case for the Enlightenment: Scotland and Naples 1680–1760 (Cambridge, 2005), pp. 90–2; T.C. Smout, ‘The Road to Union’ in Geoffrey Holmes, England after the Glorious Revolution 1689–1714 (London: Macmillan, 1969), pp. 176–96, at pp. 182–83, 187–88.

  14. 14.

    It was a development of his arguments in The Essay of a Land Bank (c.1704) where he had discussed monetary issues only and, for the first time, had proposed the use of land-based paper money: see Antoin E. Murphy, John Law: Economic Theorist and Policy-Maker (Oxford, 1997), pp. 51–3.

  15. 15.

    Law, Money and Trade, ed. Antoin E. Murphy, Monetary Theory: 1601–1758, pp. 8–9, 34, 45–6, 50–1, 56–9. Law thought that land had a stable value, was of limited supply and recognised as a valuable commodity by the general population.

  16. 16.

    The two documents are indexed as Ludwig Zinzendorf, ‘4 Memoiren über Banken und das System des Law’, vol. 106 and ‘Système de Law. Sentiments de quelques auteurs célèbres en faveur du papier’ in ‘Système de finances’, vol. 25, both in the index of Nachlaß Zinzendorf, HHStA.

  17. 17.

    ‘L’autre qui vient de paraitre dans ce pays cy depuis peu et qui contient de bonnes choses qu’on ne trouve ordinairement dans les livres allemands. L’original est anglais.’ Letter of Ludwig Zinzendorf to Karl Zinzendorf, 7 November 1759, vol. 63, DOZA.

  18. 18.

    In the 1743 Spanish edition of Melon’s Essai politique, the translator, Teodoro Ventura de Argumosa, left out all references to Law: Jesús Astigarraga, ‘La dérangeante découverte de l’autre: traductions et adaptations espagnoles de l’Essai politique sur le commerce (1734) de Jean François Melon’, Revue d’histoire moderne et contemporaine, 57:1 (2010), pp. 91–118, at pp. 100–1.

  19. 19.

    Antoin E. Murphy, The Genesis of Macroeconomics: New Ideas from Sir William Petty to Henry Thornton (Oxford, 2009), pp. 62–70. On Law’s financial scheme, see also Michael Sonenscher, ‘The Nation’s Debt and the Birth of the Modern Republic: The French Fiscal Deficit and the Politics of the Revolution of 1789’, History of Political Thought, 18:1 (1997), pp. 64–103, and Marc Cheynet de Beaupré, Joseph Pâris-Duverney. Financier D’État (1684–1770). Les sentiers du pouvoir (1684–1770) (Paris, 2012), pp. 611–784. For Law’s assessment on his scheme, see Fritz Karl Mann (ed.), ‘Justification du Système de Law par son Auteur’, Revue D’Histoire Économique et Sociale, 6:1 (1913), pp. 49–103.

  20. 20.

    Diary of Karl Zinzendorf, 8 February 1761, HHStA; also Pettenegg (ed.), Selbstbiographien, p. 72.

  21. 21.

    Letter of Ludwig Zinzendorf to Karl Zinzendorf, 14 December 1759, vol. 63, DOZA; Diary of Karl Zinzendorf, 3 December 1759, HHStA.

  22. 22.

    [Anonymous], Herrn Laws, Controlleur general der Financen in Franckreich Gedancken vom Waaren und Geld Handel, nebst dem erst in Schottland, hernach in Frankreich vorgestellten und angenommenen neuen project und Systemate der Financen, wobey einige curieuse Fata des Autoris zu lesen. Nach dem französischen und Englischen Exemplar (Leipzig: bey Jacob Schustern, 1720). Both this translation and Zinzendorf’s Gedanken vom Gelde are catalogued in Kenneth E. Carpenter, Dialogue in Political Economy. Translations from and into German in the 18th Century (Boston, MA: Kress Library Publications No. 23, 1977) pp. 28–9.

  23. 23.

    Fritz Karl Mann, ‘Der politische Ideengehalt von John Laws Finanzsystem’, Jahrbuch für Nationalökonomie und Statistik, 113 (1919), pp. 97–122, at p. 105.

  24. 24.

    ‘So wurde er gezwungen in fremde Lande zu flüchten, und da siehet man in jetzt als hohen Minister, nachdem er die Bosheit seiner Feinde auf unterschiedliche Art empfunden. Man siehet ihn an solchem Ort die gleichen Sachen ausführen, welche die vorherigen Zeiten nicht zu sehen bekommen, die unsrigen nicht begreiffen, und die späte Nachwelt nicht wird glauben können’: [Anonymous], Herrn Laws, p. 2.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., p. 93.

  26. 26.

    Chamberlen had proposed the establishment of a land bank, and Law had rushed the publication of Money and Trade to pre-empt a favourable proposal by the Scottish parliament on Chamberlen’s scheme: see Murphy, John Law, p. 76.

  27. 27.

    Based on the land’s yearly revenue of £1000 divided by the redemption of 2¼ per cent.

  28. 28.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 289–90.

  29. 29.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 443–44. As in Law’s original text, Zinzendorf repeated the section headings at the beginning of each chapter.

  30. 30.

    Ibid., p. 15.

  31. 31.

    For a discussion of Law’s analysis of money and his use of supply and demand to set a price, see Murphy, John Law, pp. 53–9.

  32. 32.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 11, 13, 21–2, 24.

  33. 33.

    Ibid., p. 25.

  34. 34.

    Ibid., pp. 37–8.

  35. 35.

    Ibid., pp. 431–32.

  36. 36.

    Ibid., pp. 81–2.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., p. 59.

  38. 38.

    Charles de Ferrare Dutot, Réflexions politiques sur les finances et le commerce (2 vols, Paris, 1738); see also Charles de Ferrare Dutot, Réflexions politiques sur les finances et le commerce, ed. Paul Harsin (2 vols, Paris, 1754; reprint, 2 vols, Liège, 1935). On Dutot’s first name, see Réflexions politiques, ed. Harsin, vol. 1, p. xi. On Dutot’s intellectual debates and influences, his admiration for Law and assessment of the financial scheme, see Antoin E. Murphy (ed.), Du Tot. Histoire du Systême de John Law (1716–1720) (Paris: Institut National d’Études Démographiques, 2000), Introduction, pp. xi–lxxvii, as well as ‘The Enigmatic Monsieur Du Tot’ in Gilbert Faccarello (ed.), Studies in the History of French Political Economy. From Bodin to Walras (London, 1998), pp. 57–77. On Dutot’s life, see François R. Velde, The Life and Times of Nicolas Dutot, Working Paper No. 2009–10, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago (November, 2009).

  39. 39.

    Dutot, Réflexions politiques (ed.) Harsin. vol. 1, p. xxii.

  40. 40.

    Dutot, ‘Chapitre III. Dans lequel on examine si le surhaussement des Monnoies est avantageux à notre Commerce en suivant le cours du change étranger qui en est le véritable Baromètre et la seule route qui puisse nous le montrer avec certitude et avec clarté’, Réflexions politiques, vol. 2, pp. iii–427. This is found in Harsin’s edition, pp. 146–291.

  41. 41.

    Dutot, Réflexions politiques, p. xxiv.

  42. 42.

    Ibid., vol. 1, pp. 1, 15–20, 23–6.

  43. 43.

    Véron de Forbonnais, Elémens du Commerce, 2nd edn (2 vols, Leiden, 1754), vol. 2, pp. 74–117.

  44. 44.

    Letter of Ludwig Zinzendorf to Karl Zinzendorf, 14 December 1759, vol 63, DOZA.

  45. 45.

    Forbonnais, Elémens, ‘Avertissement’.

  46. 46.

    Ibid., pp. 74–82.

  47. 47.

    Ibid., pp. 82–5.

  48. 48.

    Ibid., pp. 85–8.

  49. 49.

    Ibid., pp. 103–14.

  50. 50.

    Ibid., pp. 114–17.

  51. 51.

    Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, L’Esprit des Lois (1748), ed. Victor Goldschmidt (2 vols, Paris: Garnier-Flammarion, 1979), vol. 2, book XXII, Chap. 10: ‘du change’, pp. 84–5.

  52. 52.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 104–7.

  53. 53.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 110–14. See also in Chap. 5, particularly the section ‘The Survey of European Banks’.

  54. 54.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 119–20.

  55. 55.

    Ibid., pp. 122–23, 124–25.

  56. 56.

    This is based on Murphy, John Law, pp. 150–52.

  57. 57.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 161–63.

  58. 58.

    Véron de Forbonnais, Recherches et Considérations sur les Finances de France depuis l’année 1595 jusqu’à l’année 1721 (2 vols, Basel, 1758), vol. 2, pp. 96–7.

  59. 59.

    Ibid., vol. 1, p. 4.

  60. 60.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 169–70.

  61. 61.

    Ibid., pp. 175–77.

  62. 62.

    Ibid., pp. 197–98. Zinzendorf never directly referred to Law. Here, in a footnote, referring to the French Mémoire as ‘written by our author’, he made an indirect reference to the Scotsman.

  63. 63.

    Article 7 of Chap. 1, in Dutot, Réflexions, vol. 1, pp. 123–64. This is found in Harsin’s edition, pp. 43–56.

  64. 64.

    Forbonnais, Elémens, vol. 2, pp. 191–218.

  65. 65.

    Diary of Karl Zinzendorf, 22 February 1762, HHStA.

  66. 66.

    Forbonnais, Elémens, vol. 2, pp. 191–92.

  67. 67.

    Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 192–95.

  68. 68.

    Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 195–201.

  69. 69.

    Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 201–5.

  70. 70.

    Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 205–7.

  71. 71.

    A 25 per cent increase in the value of exports and 50 per cent increase in the value of imports.

  72. 72.

    Forbonnais, Elémens, vol. 2, pp. 208–10.

  73. 73.

    Ibid., vol. 2, pp. 210–11.

  74. 74.

    With an increase of prices of 25 per cent and a rise of the money of account of 50 per cent, a price fall of a quarter would lead to a corresponding increase of exports of a quarter. Sales of 72 minus the value of export of 54 would net a surplus of 18: a 50 per cent increase on the initial profit in the third scenario of 12: ibid., vol. 2, pp. 211–12.

  75. 75.

    Ibid., pp. 212–15.

  76. 76.

    Forbonnais had provided numerical example using the assumption of the second scenario: 100 liv., equal to 150 liv. after the currency variation, would purchase 125 liv. of produce. With a rate of interest of 6 per cent, the cost of money was 9 liv. which had to be deducted from 150 liv. So, 141 liv. were available to purchase produce which cost 125 liv. after the change of prices. Hence only 16 liv. worth of additional produce could be purchased. Following the currency manipulation, the higher interest charge of 3 liv. (6+3) on 150 liv. directly offset the 25 liv. of additional purchase power which the people had hoped to achieve. These calculations, Forbonnais had added, could be refined further. They could incorporate the principle according to which merchants always had been targeting a level of profit which had to be at the least twice as much as the potential investment income based on the prevailing rate of interest in the country: ibid., vol. 2, pp. 213–15.

  77. 77.

    Ibid., vol. 2, p. 217.

  78. 78.

    John Law: Oeuvres complètes, ed Paul Harsin (3 vols, Paris, 1934), vol. 1, p. xxiv.

  79. 79.

    In Forbonnais, Recherches, ‘Mémoire sur la réduction des Intérêts’, vol. 2, pp. 528–41, and ibid., ‘Vue Générale du Système de M. Law’, vol. 2, pp. 574–644.

  80. 80.

    The third part of John Law’s Mémoire, ‘Mémoire sur l’usage des Monnoyes et sur le profit ou la perte qu’il peut y avoir pour un Prince et pour un Etat, dans l’altération du titre de ses Monnoyes, et dans l’augmentation ou la diminution de leur prix, par rapport aux Etats voisins’ can be found in Forbonnais, Recherches, vol. 2, pp. 542–73, at pp. 560–69.

  81. 81.

    Ibid., p. 542.

  82. 82.

    Ibid., pp. 560–62.

  83. 83.

    Ibid., pp. 562–64.

  84. 84.

    Ibid., pp. 564–65.

  85. 85.

    Ibid., pp. 565–66.

  86. 86.

    Ibid., pp. 567–68.

  87. 87.

    Ibid., p. 569. Law had assumed that only the coin of 10 sols had altered and that the other specie had remained unchanged.

  88. 88.

    The titles of Graumann’s and Strube’s publications and the sequence of their exchange had been: 1. C.I P. G[raumann], Abdruck von einem Schreiben, die deutsche und anderer Völker Münzverfassung und insonderheit die Höch-Fürstl. Braunschweigische Münze betreffend (Braunschweig, 1749); 2. Anonymous [Julius Melchior Strube], Gründliche Prüfung des Schreibens, die Teutsche und anderer Völker Münzverfassung und insonderheit die Höchfürstl. Braunschweigische Münze betreffend (Hannover, 1751); 3. Anonymous [Johann Philipp Graumann], Vernünftige Vertheidigung des Schreibens die Teutsche und anderer Völker Münz-Verfassung betreffend, der sogenannten gründlichen Prüfung desselben entgegengesetzt. Nebst einem Anhange worin die in der Erfahrung gegründete Ursachen von dem Steigen und Fallen des Gold und Silberpreises, und dem darauf sich gründenden Steigen und Fallen des Wechsel Courses angehandelt werden (Berlin, 1751); 4. Anonymous [Julius Melchior Strube], Untersuchung der Frage: Ob das Silbergeld zu erhöhen sey? Worin die sogenannte Vernünftige Vertheidigung des Schreibens: die Teutsche und anderer Völker Münz-Verfassung betreffend beantwortet wird (Hannover, 1752).

  89. 89.

    For an account of the Prussian currency reforms, see Friedrich Freiherr von Schrötter, ‘Die Münzverwaltung Friedrichs des Großen’ in Paul Seidel (ed.), Hohenzollern Jahrbuch, vol. 15 (Berlin and Leipzig, 1911), pp. 91–9, at p. 92. Schrötter was a historian and numismatist who worked at the Münzkabinett in Berlin.

  90. 90.

    Ibid., pp. 93–4. On the establishment of Graumann’s system in 1750, see Friedrich Freiherr von Schrötter, ‘Das preußische Münzwesen im 18. Jahrhundert’, Acta Borussica, Münzgeschichtlicher Theil. Die Begründung des preußischen Münzsystems durch Friedrich d.Gr. und Graumann (Berlin, 1908), vol. 2, pp. 74–90.

  91. 91.

    It was a silver coin which was first minted in the early seventeenth century and named after Albert VII, the sovereign of the Habsburg Netherlands and Archduke of Austria.

  92. 92.

    Strube, Gründliche Prüfung, p. 10.

  93. 93.

    Ibid., paragraphs 1–4, pp. 4–9.

  94. 94.

    Ibid., paragraphs 28 and 29, pp. 72–6.

  95. 95.

    Ibid., paragraphs 30 and 38, pp. 76–8, 95–7.

  96. 96.

    Strube, Untersuchung der Frage, Introduction, pp. 4–6, 15–18.

  97. 97.

    Ibid., p. 9.

  98. 98.

    Ibid., pp. 22–4, 33. Gottfried Achenwall, German philosopher and economist, had also taken part in the debate and, like Graumann, had argued for an increase in the denomination of silver coins: ‘Entwurf einer politischen Betrachtung über die Zunahme des Goldes und Abnahme des Silbers in Europa’ in Hannoverischen Gelehrte Anzeigen, 1751, pp. 343–51.

  99. 99.

    Strube, Untersuchung der Frage, paragraphs 24–25, 29, 40 at pp. 55–6, 73–5, 90–3.

  100. 100.

    Ibid., paragraphs 24, 49, pp. 79–83, 124–25.

  101. 101.

    Christopher Duffy, The Army of Frederick the Great (Vancouver, 1974), pp. 130–31; Günther Probszt, Österreichische Münz- und Geldgeschichte (2 vols, Vienna, 1994), vol. 2, pp. 502–3. For an account of the Prussian currency debasements during the war, see

    also August Octavian Ritter von Loehr, ‘Die Finanzierung des Siebenjährigen Krieges’, Numismatische Zeitschrift, 18 (1925), pp. 95–110, at pp. 98–103.

  102. 102.

    Probszt, Münz- und Geldgeschichte, vol. 2, p. 496.

  103. 103.

    The financier Johann Fries was involved in selling the silver thaler, see Chap. 6, ‘Projectors’. On the use of the Maria-Theresien-thaler in commerce, see Probszt, Münz- und Geldgeschichte, vol. 2, pp. 506–10.

  104. 104.

    Dickson, Finance and Government, vol. 2, p. 34; on the currency standards, conversion and exchange rates used in the monarchy, see ibid., Appendix F, pp. 369–71, and Probszt, Münz- und Geldgeschichte, vol. 2, p. 498.

  105. 105.

    For a comparative account of the different currency policies in Prussia and the monarchy during the Seven Years War, see Loehr, ‘Die Finanzierung’.

  106. 106.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 202–5.

  107. 107.

    For a discussion, see Murphy, John Law, pp. 97–8.

  108. 108.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 227–44.

  109. 109.

    Ibid., pp. 228.

  110. 110.

    Zinzendorf used the monetary standard of Hannover (Hannoverischer Münz-Fuss), previously the standard of Leipzig, for his calculations: ibid., p. 243. He did not clarify which states he included in ‘Germany’.

  111. 111.

    Nicholas-François Dupré de Saint Maur, Essai sur les monnoyes, ou rapport entre l’argent et les denrées (Paris, 1746).

  112. 112.

    William Lowndes, A Report Containing an Essay for the Amendment of the Silver Coins (London, 1695).

  113. 113.

    William Fleetwood, Chronicon Preciosum: or An Account of English Money, the Price of Corn and Other Commodities, for the Last 600 Years (London, 1707).

  114. 114.

    Johann Friedrich Unger, Von der Ordnung der Fruchtpreise, und deren Einflusse in die wichtigsten Angelegenheiten des menschlichen Lebens (Göttingen, 1752).

  115. 115.

    On Unger’s activities and the importance of Von der Ordnung der Fruchtpreise, see Günther Schmitt, ‘Johann Friedrich Unger (1714–1781). Arithmetiker und erster bedeutender landwirtschaftlicher Marktforscher deutscher Sprache’, Agrarwirtschaft, 16 (1967), pp. 201–6.

  116. 116.

    The reference value was applied to the first data point of each series. For France and England, the first entry was the value in 1495; for ‘Germany’ it was in 1325.

  117. 117.

    The first three columns of each table consisted of the raw data for Zinzendorf’s calculations: the first column set out the years, the second and third, respectively, gave the values at which a unit of silver was minted and the prices of agricultural produce. The fourth and fifth columns indexed the values of coins and the prices of produce each year to the reference value at the beginning of the data series. The sixth column, finally, combined the values of the previous two columns and was an expression of the proportional changes in both the content of specie and the prices of produce. For France, Zinzendorf gave numerical examples, using the beginning and end of the data series, 1495 and 1746, to show the proportional change. For 1746, the values were as follows: column four: 2760/13,038 = 0.2117 × 1000 = 212; column five: 4680/137 = 34.16 × 1000 = 34,160; column six: 212/1000 = 0.212 × 34,160 = 7241: Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 229–31.

  118. 118.

    Ibid., pp. 234–36.

  119. 119.

    The cash award was, at the maximum, 10 per cent of the price ceiling set by the government.

  120. 120.

    Louis-Joseph Plumard de Dangeul, ‘Des bléds et de la culture en général’ in Remarques sur les avantages et désavantages de la France et de la Grande Bretagne par rapport au Commerce et aux autres sources de la puissances des États, 3rd edn (Leiden, 1754), pp. 82–101.

  121. 121.

    Forbonnais, Elémens, vol. 1, pp. 112–30. Forbonnais began the passage with: ‘Les peuples qui n’ont envisagé la culture des terres que du côté de la subsistance, ont toujours vécu dans la crainte des disettes et les ont souvent éprouvées. Ceux qui l’ont envisagé comme un objet de commerce ont joui d’une abondance assez soutenue pour se trouver toujours en état de suppléer aux besoins des étrangers. L’Angleterre nous fournit tout à la fois l’un et l’autre exemple’: ibid., pp. 112–13.

  122. 122.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 236–41.

  123. 123.

    Zinzendorf used German data from Unger, Von der Ordnung, p. 268.

  124. 124.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 243–44.

  125. 125.

    Ibid., pp. 281–87. The original text is in Forbonnais, Recherches, vol. 1, pp. 297–99.

  126. 126.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 370–72.

  127. 127.

    Ibid., pp. 402–6.

  128. 128.

    Forbonnais, Recherches et Considérations, vol. 2, pp. 140–41.

  129. 129.

    Zinzendorf, Gedanken vom Gelde, pp. 396–401.

  130. 130.

    Abbé Jean-Bernard le Blanc, Discours politiques de Monsieur Hume traduits de l’anglois (2 vols, Amsterdam, 1754).

  131. 131.

    For Le Blanc’s French translation of Hume’s Political Discourses, I follow the interpretations of Loїc Charles, ‘French “New Politics” and the Dissemination of David Hume’s Political Discourses on the Continent, 1750–70’, pp. 181–202, at pp. 186–95, and Istvan Hont, ‘The “Rich Country–Poor Country” Debate revisited. The Origins and French Reception of the Hume Paradox’, pp. 243–323, at pp. 267–74, both in Carl Wennerlind and Schabas Margaret (eds.), David Hume’s Political Economy (London: Routledge, 2008).

  132. 132.

    Le Blanc, Discours politiques, vol. 2, pp. 383–96, 397–417.

  133. 133.

    Ibid., vol. 1, pp. xxi–xxii.

  134. 134.

    See note 6.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Simon Adler .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Adler, S. (2020). The German Translation of Law’s Money and Trade, 1758. In: Political Economy in the Habsburg Monarchy 1750–1774. Palgrave Studies in the History of Finance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31007-3_4

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31007-3_4

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-31006-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-31007-3

  • eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics