Author: UNKNOWN
Title: 1806 Receipt for Large Tax Payment in la Rochelle, France
Description: La Rochelle, France, 1806. Ephemera. On offer is an interesting financial document from the days of Napoleon’s France. Measuring 6.25 inches by 8.0 inches, the document is a receipt for taxes. It was issued for the city of La Rochelle, a port city on the Atlantic coast of France. It is interesting to note that the original date, 1806, has been stroked out in favour of the new Republican/ Revolutionary date of Year 14. The receipt is for a payment of 72 francs, approximately the equivalent of US$ 900 today. The average labourer earned about 390 francs a year so this was a not insignificant amount, equalling about 47 days of wages. An excerpt follows: Contribution pour l'an 14 - 1805 Je soussignee Receveur des Contributions directer de la commune de la Rochelle reconnois avoir recu d' M Vanhougevert le somme de soixante-douze francs huit centimes conformement au bordereau ci-dessus. [Translation: Contribution for the year 4 - 1805 I, the undersigned Receiver of Taxes direct from the municipality of La Rochelle, acknowledge having received from Mr. Vanhougevert the sum of seventy-two francs eight cents in accordance with the above schedule]. For an economist or social historian, this document gives a look at one of the economic realities of life in France during the Napoleonic Wars. ; 6.25" x 8"; 1 pages. Good in Good dust jacket .

Keywords: 19th Century Finances Nobility French History