Loi Relative aux moyens de secourir la Colonie de Saint-Domingue. Donnée à Paris, le 29 Juin 1792, l'an IV. de la Liberté. Consignée dans les registres du Départment de la Meurthe, le 24 Juillet suivant. [No. 1412]

Nancy [France]: Chez Haener, Imprimeur du Départment de la Meurthe, 1792. First edition. Self wrappers. A very good copy with pin holes along inner margin, two soiled spots, signed in ink on last page.. 4 pp. Illus. with a woodcut headpiece. Sm. 4to. Signed (illegible). Law authorizing negotiation with the United States minister to obtain food and construction materials in the amount of 4,000,000 livres, to be paid by the French Treasury but to be reimbursed by taxes on the colony. The money was much needed as the loan decree, dated 26 Juin 1792, came in the midst of unparalleled upheaval in Haiti. The revolution of the year before, with its "horrible carnage" had now given way "to strategic military operations, tactical maneuvers and new political alliances as the slaves gain territory and stabilize their positions. They raid plantations for military equipment, loot the whites' forces after they are repelled, and trade with the Spanish for weaponry" (Kona Shen, History of Haiti, The Revolution Builds, Brown University. library.brown.edu/haitihistory/6.html). Toussaint Louverture is a rising star, Civil Commissions arrive from France, free blacks and mulattos in Saint-Domingue are granted equal political rights, Spain declares war on England and France, and battle ensues for control of Haiti. The U.S. is concerned with conditions on the island and in fact Jefferson writes of his concern to the Marquis de Lafayette (16 June 1792). Rare. OCLC, BN France, and other European Libraries locate no copies of this issue (No. 1412, with additional text concerning the Departement de la Meurthe). A Paris printing (No. 1813) can be found at Cornell, Univ. Minn., and JCB which also has a Toulouse printing. Manioc (Bibliotheque) shows a digitized version of the Paris imprint.