The French Translation of the Theórica: From Political Arithmetic to Political Economy

This chapter considers the identity of the person who drove forward the 1753 French translation of Uztáriz’s Theórica y práctica de comercio y de marina. Evidence supports the hypothesis that it was Véron de Forbonnais who proposed the translation as part of a broader editorial initiative, which also included the translation of The British Merchant (1753) and was aimed at employing political arithmetic to prevent the renewal of the commercial treaty binding France to the United Provinces and the implementation of the treaty signed with England in Utrecht in 1713. Forbonnais, who admired Uztáriz’s text for its methodological approach, used his notes not only to correct the factual errors made by Uztáriz but also to replace the natural law approach adopted by the Navarrese official with an economic anthropology based on self-interest and “progressive consumptionism”, which he embraced having read and appreciated David Hume.