HENNEQUIN (Jean). - Lot 12

HENNEQUIN (Jean). Le Guidon général des finances: Contenant l'Instruction du maniement de toutes les finances de France. Paris : Abel L'Angelier, 1601. - In-8, hardback parchment, smooth spine (period binding). Fourth edition of the first public finance manual, first published in 1585, with annotations by Vincent Gelée. Its author was the jurisconsult and economist Jean Hennequin, secretary to the King's chamber and employee of the Chambre des comptes de Normandie. His aim "was to produce a general treatise, a comprehensive work, embracing all parts of the monarchy's finances and their administration. It deals with the origin of the domain of the kings of France, the rights attached to it, and the difference between them; the forms to be observed by receivers and treasurers for the verification of revenue and expenditure accounts; the duties and obligations of finance intendants, chambers of accounts, treasurers and comptrollers general; the whole is accompanied by royal ordinances, rulings of the chambers of accounts and related administrative instructions" (Hoefer, "Nouvelle Biographie Universelle", vol. 23, 946). Its success was enduring, and it remained a major reference for financial history until the mid-17th century, and remains today an essential source for understanding the financial administration of the period. This fine edition, printed by Abel L'Angelier, reproduces the 1594 edition. It is rare and missing from the general catalog of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France. A good copy in contemporary binding. Soiling to binding, ink stain on first board. Burning in the upper corner of the last few leaves, from leaf 398 onwards, with some rare damage to the text. Provenance: Émile Leconte, with bookplate.