Mémoires d'un ministre du Trésor Public 1780 - 1815

First edition; a private edition was made in a few copies for the author's family in 1837, and it took 8 years before the author decided to release it to the public. 9 folding tables (budgets for the years 1806, 1808...)
Contemporary binding in half glazed blonde calf. Spine with false raised bands decorated with cold and hot fillets, roulette at foot. Red morocco title label, and black morocco volume label. A very slight crack to the upper joint at the head of volume 4, otherwise fine copy, moreover of perfect freshness.
Essential memoirs for understanding the Empire according to Tulard. Mollien was Minister of the Treasury from the Consulate to the end of the Empire. His memoirs are particularly concerned with details and precision. In the preface, Mollien admits his preference for Adam Smith's school over his own (Mollien spent 5 years in England studying finance after being dismissed and imprisoned during the Terror). He notably created the Court of Auditors. The work begins with an analysis of France's financial situation under Louis XVI, up to Bonaparte's rise. The tax system was consolidated under Napoleon, notably as consequences of the Empire's multiple wars. The memoirs contain numerous letters between the minister and his sovereign. The author thus presents an unprecedented economic and financial portrait of France under the Empire.