[Signed] Real decreto, que previene las reglas, y condiciones con que se puede hacer el comercio desde España a la provincia de la Luisiana [Decree -

Madrid: Don Gabrièl Ramirez, 28 March 1768. First edition. Pot folio in 4s (11 1/16"" x 8 1/8"", 281mm x 206mm): A4 [$2 signed; -A1]. 4 leaves, pp. [8] (title, blank, 6pp. text). Bound in modern paper wraps. All edges of the text-block sprinkled red. Repaired losses at the spine. Ink manuscript foliation (284-286) in an old hand. Else fine. In the aftermath of the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), the balance of power among Britain, France and Spain shifted and realigned throughout the Americas. Mutual enmity of Britain between France and Spain led to the Treaty of Fontainebleau (3 November 1762), a secret transfer of Louisiana from France to Spain in order to prevent Britain from acquiring it in as French control of Canada was finally lost to the British. French Canadians were allowed to leave British-controlled Canada, and many moved down the Mississippi toward New Orleans, assuming it remained a French territory. A letter from Louis XV in 1764 to Charles Philippe Aubry (governor of ""French Louisiana"") revealed that the territory west of the Mississippi as well as New Orleans were in fact Spanish possessions. Antonio de Ulloa was sent from Spain as the new governor, but by October 1768 he was pushed out of New Orleans by popular revolt. This stubborn resistance to Spanish control among the French settlers of Luisiana led to the present decree, attempting to regulate trade (banning ""Vinos estrangeros,"" corking French wine, Art. II) and to ensure that majority-Spanish crews controlled shipping (Art. III). Finally a detachment of some 2,000 troops under the command of Alexander (Alejandro) O'Reilly, an Irishman by birth, was sent by Carlos III to quell the rebellion. Some 32 years later Spain would retrocede Louisiana to the French, who held it for just three years before selling it to the United States in 1803. Palau 251076; Streeter sale I:147.