Three decrees and documents relating the citizenship and rights of Jews in France. France, 1790. French.

The decrees were published shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolution, in the period when France underwent extreme societal and governmental changes. At the beginning of the revolution, King Louis XVI was forced to acquiesce to the demands of the new National Assembly, the estates system of rights was replaced with elected bodies, and the Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen was authored.

• Adresse à l'Assemblée Nationale, Paris: National Assembly, 1789 [i.e. January 1790].
A petition submitted by the Spanish-Portuguese community in Bordeaux to the National Assembly in France, regarding their citizenship and equal rights.

8 pages (double leaf, folded). Approx. 27 cm. Fair-good condition. Stains. Creases and wear. Tears and holes, affecting text.

• Proclamation du roi, sur un décret de l'assemblée nationale, concernant les Juifs, du 16 Avril 1790 [proclamation of the king about a decree of the National Assembly regarding the Jews, 16 April, 1790]. Paris: L'Imprimerie Royale, 1790.
A decree of protection passed by the revolutionary National Assembly of France, approved by King Louis XVI. The decree grants protection of the law and citizenship to the Ashkenazi Jews in the Alsace and Lorraine provinces. The decree instructs the authorities and the National Guard to defend the Jews in their provinces and protect their lives and property. At the top of the leaf is printed a woodcut.

[1] double leaf (2 printed pages). Approx. 27 cm. Good-fair condition. Stains and wear. Tear to fold.

• Lettres patentes du Roi, sur le décret de l'Assemblée nationale, du 20 juillet dernier, portant suppression des droits d'habitation, de protection, de tolérance et de redevances semblables sur les Juifs, données à Saint-Claude le 7 août 1790. La Rochelle: P. L. Chauvet, 1790.
Official decree of King Louis XVI cancelling the yearly tax of 20,000 livres that had been levied on the Jews of Metz, as well as other taxes levied on French Jews, according to the decision of the French National Assembly on July 20, 1790. At the top of the first page is printed a woodcut.

4 pages. 25 cm. Good condition. Stains and light damage. Bound with red paper wrapper.

PLEASE NOTE: Item descriptions were shortened in translation. For further information, please refer to Hebrew text.