COLBERT (Jean-Baptiste) - Lot 285

COLBERT (Jean-Baptiste) COLBERT, Jean-Baptiste (1619-1683). Signed autograph letter concerning revenues and land acquisitions in Burgundy, August 25, 1655. A handsome in-folio manuscript, formerly mounted on strong card, comprising a typographical reproduction of an autograph letter from Colbert dated "à Mugenne" [Meugnes?], August 25, 1655. The document bears Colbert's facsimile signature at the bottom. Printed at the foot: "N° 98. - COLBERT". This letter, addressed to a correspondent referred to as "Monseigneur", concerns financial and domanial matters relating to the duchy and its dependencies. In it, Colbert precisely develops his calculations of income and depreciation, mentioning in particular various lands, seigneuries, rights and ecclesiastical revenues: "... there are powerful considerations that must oblige her to keep it; I have estimated 28000 ℔ what was cy avant estimated 16000..." The future Comptroller General of Finances meticulously outlines the yield prospects attached to certain possessions, the income expected "in the future", as well as the strategic interest of several territorial and ecclesiastical acquisitions, already revealing the administrative and accounting rigor that would characterize his policy during the reign of Louis XIV. In particular, the text mentions assets belonging to abbeys and local seigneuries, in a context of financial rationalization and asset management typical of the early years of Colbert's ascension within the royal administration. Interesting testimony to the financial and land affairs of the mid XVIIᵉ century, illustrating the economic concerns of one of the great craftsmen of the French monarchical state. A decorative ensemble evocative of the administrative and political history of the Grand Siècle.