[Tobacco]:

$900 · Offered by William Reese Company

MEMOIRE SUR LE TABAC D'ESPAGNE [manuscript caption title]. A contemporary manuscript copy of a short, candid description of Spanish tobacco. The author describes sources of Spanish tobacco, methods of storage, preparation, and how it is taken. It reads, in part and in translation: "The best is from Havana; the greater part comes in powder by fleets & gallions; it is not very fine; the Spanish use it as it is without a second sifting and believe that, in the quantity in which they take, it would do them harm if it were much finer."Michel Bégon (1638-1710), among whose papers this manuscript was found, was a French civil servant and colonial administrator who served for a while in Canada, and then in the Caribbean at Martinique. In the 1680s he became intendant at Santo Domingo, and was later sent to Martinique for official duties. Later he was intendant at the port of la Rochelle and heavily involved in French intelligence activities.

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