1800s Financial Letter and Receipts of a Well-to-do Frenchman

On offer are three interesting statements and receipts from a small merchant farmer in eastern France in the early to mid-19th century.

The first document is a letter, written by a private banker named Jules Chanut on behalf of his client, Monsieur Cordelier. It carries letterhead and a hand written description of the account activities and a commercial bill of lading. This statement is accompanied by two  small receipts made out to the aforementioned client for amounts that include municipal tax. 

Jules Chanut, from his letterhead and from public records, operated a private banking business that included the negotiating of bills of lading on behalf of clients. The client in this case was a Monsieur Cordelier. The invoiced company was Bordereau. Our informal research was not able to find additional information on Bordereau. There is a reference in archives to a Francois Cordelier in the Chalons sur Saone area who is a merchant farmer. This suggests activity beyond mere subsistence farming.

The statement is on a faintly lined page with the top portion reserved for a written note followed by numbered lines to detail account transactions. An excerpt from the letter follows: 

Monsieur Cordelier Ma derniere lettre de [ ] en vous portent 412,60 etablissait ainsi la situation de votre compte. J'ai recu [ ]. dont vous aurez credit definitif apres encaissement...

[Translation: Mister Cordelier My last letter of [ ] with 412.60 to you established the situation of your account. I have received [ ] of which you will have final credit after collection…]

Following Chant’s signature, the transactions with Bordereau are detailed.

The second small document is a receipt. The receipt is dated 1819 and is made out to Cordelier for payment of a local municipal tax that was collected across France. 

Recu de M. Cordelier, huit francs vingt cinq centimes pour droits de octroi sur la quantite de trente trois [] pois qu'il a presentement fait entrer. et qu'il a declare faire conduire chez lui dont quittance. Au bureau de [] ce 28 aout 1819

[Translation: Received from Mister Cordelier, eith francs and twenty cents for the Octroi on the quantity of thirty three [] peas which he presently brought in. and which he declared to have brought to his house which is acknowledged. At the office of [] this August 28, 1819]

The “octroi,” was a tax on goods brought into a town or city. It was imposed on consumer goods such as wine, beer, food (except for flour, fruit, and milk), firewood, animal fodder, and construction materials. All of these products had to pass through tollgates on the outskirts of the town or city, where they could be inspected and taxed. The effect was to create between 1 and 2 thousand internal customs zone within the country and it fell the heaviest on poorer consumers.

The final document is a receipt issued to Cordelier in 1827. It describes a payment he made for an unspecified purpose in the amount of 127 francs. The format however is very similar to the receipt for the octroi tax and it is reasonable to assume that is the purpose of this one as well.

For someone interested in the manner of commercial transactions in the mid-19th century, these documents hint at the thriving commercial economy that existed over the first half of the 19th century.

The letter  is a single page document measuring 9.75 inches by 7.75 inches. The pale blue paper is in very good condition. The receipts measure 3.25 inches by 5.5 inches and 2.0 inches by 5.25 inches respectively.