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Scottish economist (1671–1729) known as a monetary reformer and as the originator of the 'Mississippi Scheme' for the development of French territories in America. Manuscript DS in French, signed “Law,” one page both sides, 8 x 12.25, no date but circa December 1717. Historic, early document in which Law petitions the Admiralty for the transportation of his first 300 settlers to Louisiana. In part (translated): "The Compagnie d'Occident most humbly requests that the Council of the Navy grant the permission requested for three hundred men to be recruited, some to be taken from Paris and nearby places, and sent to Louisiana, who will embark at La Rochelle on two frigates which it is having armed there, and at Saint-Malo, which will bring them together with a letter that arms them at La Rochelle.
Likewise, the Council of the Navy is requested to grant fourteen lieutenants and twenty-five men each, departing from Paris for La Rochelle, making three hundred and fifty, which is the greatest number that can be assembled in order to embark three hundred.
As these new letters will arrive and be distributed while awaiting embarkation, the Council is requested to grant permission to make the recruitment of three hundred men, in the Île de Ré, where they would be closer to embarkation than on the Île d’Oléron, since the same wind which would delay departure from the Île d’Oléron for America would, on the contrary, be favorable for departure from the Île d’Oléron toward the roadstead of La Rochelle." In fine condition, with a few scattered stains. Accompanied by a manuscript document from the Marine Council, dated January 5, 1718, approving the Compagnie d'Occident's request.
Law made his name with a concept of paper money backed by land, rather than by gold or silver, promulgated in his 1705 text Money and Trade Considered: With a Proposal for Supplying the Nation with Money. After pitching his idea around Europe, he was finally given the chance to enact it in France.
This document dates from the earliest phase of John Law’s bold colonial and financial experiment, just months after the founding of the Compagnie d’Occident (popularly known as the Compagnie du Mississippi, or Mississippi Company) in 1717. At this moment, Law—already a powerful figure at the court of the Regent, Philippe d’Orléans—was laying the practical groundwork for French expansion in Louisiana, which he envisioned as the territorial and economic backbone of his wider Mississippi System. The petition reveals the concrete realities behind this grand scheme: the organized recruitment, arming, and transport of settlers through key French ports such as La Rochelle and Saint-Malo. As one of the first administrative steps toward populating Louisiana under corporate control.
His efforts led to the creation of the Mississippi Company monopoly, which, along with its contemporary South Sea Company, became one of the mythical early bubbles. Early investors in the company became near-instant millionaires (indeed, the word 'millionaire' originated from Mississippi Company traders), and by January 1720 prices were rising by 23% per month. The bubble popped in May 1720, leaving riots in its wake. Fearing for his life, Law fled to Brussels and then Venice, spending the rest of his life in relative poverty.
