Beschreibung:

The preliminary peace treaty between Great Britain and France London, 1783 PARIS PEACE NEGOTIATIONS — Preliminary Articles of Peace between his Britannick Majesty, and the Most Christian King. Signed at Versailles, the 29th of January, 1783. London: T. Harrison and S. Brooke, 1783. George Montagu's copy, one of the British negotiators at Versailles. Montagu, 4th Duke of Manchester (1737-1788), was a Whig Member of Parliament opposed to Lord North's American policy. His support of the Rockingham ministry landed him appointments as Lord Chamberlain and the Privy Council, and in 1783 he became the Ambassador to France to supervise the conclusion of the ongoing treaty negotiations in Paris in the spring of 1783. Montagu's charge was to conclude treaties with France, Spain and the Dutch Republic (David Hartley and Richard Oswald led separate negotiations with the United States). The present copy would have provided Montagu with easy reference during the protracted negotiations toward a definitive treaty that did not conclude until September 1783. In the lower margin of page seven, Montagu comments on Article VIII which governed the mutual return of various sugar islands in the West Indies, asking whether the word "restitués" would concern the island of Tobago which was taken by the French in 1781 and ceded to France per the terms of Article VII. Davenport 169; Adams, American Controversy, 83-45. Quarto (205 x 190mm). Some marginalia on title page and again on page 7 (slightly toned on a few pages at top margin). Later stabbed and sewn binding (original stitch holes intact). Housed in a green cloth chemise and matching slipcase. Provenance: Ex [UK] Public Records office (stamp on verso), deaccession c.1990.