[NAPLES.]

Rappresentanze fatte a sua Maestà dal Supremo Magistrato di Commercio, e dal Sopraintendente e Deputazione Generale della Salute, circa i Grani spediti da Marsiglia da D. Francesco Hombrados.

[N. p., n. d., but presumably Naples, 1764.] Folio, 6 leaves (the last a blank); engraved vignette to the title; edges of the title lightly dust-soiled; a very nice, unsophisticated copy, unbound as issued. Four short official reports evidencing decisions by the Supreme Magistrature of Commerce and the Public Health Authority of the Kingdom of Naples on the rejection and condemnation of specified cargoes of grain and flour arrived in the port of Naples. Dated in sequence 12, 24, and two on the 26 July 1764. This interesting series of official reports shows the care taken in Naples, from a public health standpoint, to prevent the production of bread from inferior, or rotten cereals. A cargo of grain despatched from Marseilles by a Francesco Hombrados had aroused suspicion; the first report, from the Magistrature, is in answer to a royal directive to examine the matter and to take a just decision on whether the grain is acceptable and on the payment of charter fees to the ships’ captains who delivered it. The magistrates list the experts they have consulted in this matter and also in the matter of a cargo of flour shipped from Genoa by Bartolomeo Poggi.The report finds that the grain has been reheated and stinks and is mixed with rye, veitch and tares; they have therefore condemned it. They have also considered a cargo consigned from Marseilles by Luigi Martinez de Beltran arrived on a vessel captained by an Englishman, Nicola Roverano, which is not as bad as the Hombrados cargo. The flour they find to be malodorous, completely rotten, and unsuitable to be made into bread. They decide after an examination of all ships papers and relevant documentation that the unacceptable cargoes should be reloaded onto the vessels which brought them and reexported but that if this order is not obeyed by those responsible then the cargoes should be thrown into the sea. The Beltran-Roverano cargo however is to be considered by medical experts. The magistrates refer back the matter of payment of shipping charges which insurers charterer and proprietors are all involved.The three further reports follow events over the next few days. The unacceptable cereals have already been unloaded; they are stored in a warehouse but the key is not available etc. They are definitely to be dumped in the sea. Samples are to be taken from the Beltran-Roverano cargo and bread is to be made from these samples, after which a final decision can be taken. It appears in the first report that the Beltran-Roverano cargo is a trading adventure of the Royal Family; perhaps a little leniency seemed politic.The care taken to consult appropriate experts lest unfair decisions be taken to the prejudice of the merchants etc. matches the care taken to ensure that public health is not prejudiced. Moreover the determinations of these official bodies seem eminently practical.Not found in OCLC or the online Italian union catalogue.

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• libraire: Bernard Quaritch Ltd. (GREAT BRITAIN)