A revolution in commerce : the Parisian merchant court and the rise of commercial society in eighteenth-century France / Amalia D. Kessler.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kessler, Amalia D.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Paris (France). Juge et consuls des marchands--History.

Paris (France).

Paris (France). Juge et consuls des marchands.

Commercial courts--France--Paris--History.

Commercial courts.

History.

Paris (France)--History--1789-1799.

France--Paris.

Physical Description:

x, 391 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

New Haven, Conn. : Yale University Press, [2007]

Summary:

This groundbreaking book provides the first comprehensive account of the juridiction consulaire, or Merchant Court, of eighteenth-century Paris. Carefully reconstructing the workings of the Court and the commercial law that it applied, Amalia D. Kessler situates these within the broader context of the contemporaneous social order. The Merchant Court, she shows, serves as a useful lens through which to examine the origins of modern commercial law and society. The book explores how elite merchants, seeking to navigate a complex set of legal institutions, helped to transform both commercial practice and conceptions of commerce. These transformations in turn contributed to the demise of corporatism and, ultimately, to the social and political revolution of 1789. Drawing on extensive archival research, Kessler offers fresh insights into the power of the law to enable and drive ideological and social transformation.

Contents:

Situating the court : institutional structure, jurisdictional conflict, and the rise of a new conception of commerce

The court's self-conception as a bastion of virtue : relational contracting and a community-based approach to procedure

An equity-oriented view of contract : the court's resolution of disputes concerning sales, employment, and marriage

Société and sociability : the changing structure of business associations and the problem of merchant relations

A crisis in virtue : the challenges of negotiability and the rise of a new commercial culture

Launching a national campaign: the administrative monarchy and the demands of Le commerce.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 307-374) and index.

ISBN:

9780300113976

0300113978

OCLC:

123232210