Modernized and annotated primary sources on commerce, trade, and enterprise from the mercantilist era and beyond. https://artmercantile.com/ 2026-04-07T00:00:00Z © 2026 F. & C. Art Mercantile Anthology. Modernized texts, annotations, and commentary are original works. Underlying historical documents are in the public domain. F. & C. Art Mercantile Anthology https://artmercantile.com/ https://artmercantile.com/article/001 2026-03-21T00:00:00Z 2026-03-21T00:00:00Z F. & C. Art Mercantile Anthology

Originally published in The Country Journal and The Poughkeepsie Advertiser, Feb 2, 1786 (New York, USA). — The British government has been under a foolish delusion for a while now. They have been trying to unite the empire through taxation rather than mutual goodwill. This strategy was a disaster in America, and it would have been a disaster in Ireland, too, but the Irish people fought back, secured their own constitution, and successfully resisted the British system.

https://artmercantile.com/article/002 2026-03-21T00:00:00Z 2026-03-21T00:00:00Z F. & C. Art Mercantile Anthology

Originally published in The Country Journal, and the Poughkeepsie Advertiser, Jan 19, 1786 (New York, USA). — Benedict Arnold arrived off the coast of St. Johns in his own brig with a cargo worth nearly £30,000, only for it to be lost at sea. Meanwhile, counterfeit copper coins from Europe flood New York, a devastating fire strikes Baltimore, and a great clamor rises in New Jersey over the printing of paper money.

https://artmercantile.com/article/003 2026-03-21T00:00:00Z 2026-03-21T00:00:00Z F. & C. Art Mercantile Anthology

Originally published in the Leydse Woensdagle Courant, Sep 30, 1733 (Leyden, Republic of the Seven United Netherlands). — A dispatch from London reports the Royal Court’s receipt of an urgent message from Paris, while a naval squadron at Spithead stands ready to sail. Stock prices for the Bank of England, the East India Company, and the South Sea Company fluctuate across the trading day. From Paris, the King’s journey to Fontainebleau hangs on events in Poland, where the election of King Stanislaus has sent company shares surging — until rumors of war bring them crashing back down.

https://artmercantile.com/article/004 2026-03-31T00:00:00Z 2026-03-31T00:00:00Z F. & C. Art Mercantile Anthology

Originally published in Extraordinaires Maanedlige Relationer, Oct 1680 (Kiøbenhafn, Union of Denmark–Norway). — The Danish Crown issues a sweeping crackdown on widespread toll evasion and smuggling across the realm, consolidating customs collection, appointing mounted officers to patrol the coast, and threatening confiscation for violations. A separate royal prohibition bans all trade with plague-infected ports. From Sweden, news of the King’s delayed state procession and diplomatic dispatches to the Imperial Court.

https://artmercantile.com/article/005 2026-04-07T00:00:00Z 2026-04-07T00:00:00Z F. & C. Art Mercantile Anthology

Originally published in The London Chronicle: or, Universal Evening Post, Sept 1758 (London, Kingdom of Great Britain). — Vienna recruits volunteers for the Imperial army with promises of promotion and post-war freedoms, while Brussels raises four new regiments. The new Sultan donates five hundred purses toward freeing debtors in Constantinople. A silver-laden wagon departs under dragoon guard for Portsmouth, bound for His Majesty’s troops in North America, as French privateers prey on Atlantic shipping and the King of Prussia requests a British fleet for the Baltic.