8vo. (XXIV),446,(50 index) p. Old marbled boards. 17 cm (Ref: Sandys 2,292/3) (Details: Margins uncut, woodcut illustration on the title) (Condition: Binding worn. Back faded. 2 old paper labels on the back. Library stamp on the title) (Note: The French cleric and scholar Pierre Daniel Huet, 1630-1721, was coadjutor in the tuition of the Grand Dauphin, the son of Louis XIV, future king. He was also general editor and organiser of the wellknown series of Delphin Classics. Among patrologists he is best known for his edition in 1668 in Rouen of Origenes' 'Commentaria in Sacras Scripturas'. In the preface to this history of ancient commerce Huet explains that it was commissioned by 'monsieur Colbert, ministre et sécretaire d'état'. Il ne falloit pas, Monsieur, une autorité moindre que la vôtre, pour me faire quitter les autres études qui m'occupent (...) pour en entreprendre une autre si differente , & vous rapporter l'Histoire du Commerce & de la Navigation des Anciens'. Colbert did so, Huet tells, in his quality of 'Intendant general du Commerce & de la Navigation de ce (France) Royaume'. (Préface p. 1/2) Colbert, 1619-1683, who was a kind of minister of Finance, improved the state of French manufacturing and brought the economy back from the brink of bankruptcy, during the rule of king Louis XIV, who fought many expensive wars. Colbert succeeded in creating a favourable balance of trade, and in increasing France's colonial holdings. Colbert saw that if his country wanted to compete with the Dutch Republic and England, he had to promote French industry and commerce. He worked 'to ensure that the French East India Company had access to foreign markets, so that they could always obtain coffee, cotton, dyewoods, fur, pepper, and sugar. In addition, Colbert founded the French merchant marine'. (Wikipedia) Colbert died in 1683, and Huet's histoire was only published in 1716, 33 years after his death, by the Parisian publisher François Fournier, who owned, according to the 'Extrait du Privilege du Roy' the right to print this title. He apparantly gave his colleague Antoine-Urbaine Coustelier permission to publish another edition. At the end of the 'Privilège du Roy' has been added 'Imprimé pour la seconde fois, le 1. Sept. 1716'. (p. b4 verso) In the 'avertissement du libraire' immediately after the title, the publisher confesses that monsieur Huet, then 86 years old, thought this work 'si peu convenable à son âge, & à la profession', that he wanted it rather to lay buried in dust on the shelves in his 'cabinet' than publish it. It was only after the prayers of his friends, lovers of literature and supporters of the interest of the state, that he gave permission to publish this work of his youth. (p. a1 recto & verso) Huet apparantly took the trouble to revise his work and prepare it for an second edition. It was a success. It was reissued in France in 1727 and 1763, translated into English (1717), German (1763 & 1775) and Italian (1737)) (Provenance: Stamp on the title: 'Ex bibliotheca Comit. de Krassow-Divitz'. This book probably comes from the library of Karl Reinhard Adolph Graf von Krassow, 1812-1892. There may however be other members of this noble family who once owned this book) (Collation: a8, b4; A-2H8) (Photographs on request)