(Franco-American Alliance) | The first treaty between the United States and another nation

(Franco-American Alliance)

Traite d’amitié et de commerce conclu entre le Roi et les Étas-Unis de l’Amérique Septentrionale, le 6 Février 1778. Paris: De l'Imprimerie Royale, 1778

4to (258 x 202 mm). Woodcut vignette of royal French arms on title-page, woodcut allegorical headpiece, initial, and tail-ornament; some browning, particularly to title and last leaf, last leaf with a small gouge touching a few letters. Folded, quired sheets, never sewn.

The official French printing of the first French-American treaty, the first treaty between the United States and another nation, and an epochal moment in the American Revolution. Having struggled to find allies in their fight against Great Britain, the fledgling United States achieved recognition from France when news of Burgoyne’s defeat at Saratoga reached Paris.

In February 1778 the American commissioners Benjamin Franklin, Arthur Lee, and Silas Deane negotiated both the treaty of amity and commerce, published herein, and a treaty of military alliance. Because France wished to consult with her ally Spain, the alliance treaty was not immediately published in Paris and was probably first printed in Philadelphia. The treaty of amity and commerce, however, was published immediately, first appearing in this Paris edition. France and the United States granted each other most-favored nation trade status and agreed to protect each other's commercial vessels. Both parties also agreed to abstain from fishing in each other's waters, with the United States specifically consenting to refrain from fishing on the banks of Newfoundland. Both treaties were ratified by the Continental Congress in May, and by June France was at war with Great Britain.

REFERENCE:

Brunet 1:12; Echeverria & Wilkie 778/36; Howes T328; Malloy 468; Revolutionary Hundred 51; Sabin 96565; Streeter sale 2:791

PROVENANCE:

Sotheby's New York, 19 May 1997, lot 303 (undesignated consignor)