Malachy Postlethwayt Universal Dictionnary of Trade and Commerce 1757

Malachy Postlethwayt (5 May 1707–13 September 1767) was a British economist and lexicographer famous for his publication of the commercial dictionary titled
The Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce
' in 1757. The dictionary was a translation and adaptation of the ''Dictionnaire universel du commerce'' of the French Inspector General of the Manufactures for the King,

Jacques Savary des Brûlons Jacques Savary des Brûlons (1657–1716) was the French Inspector General of the Manufactures for the King at the Paris Customs in the 18th century, and a lexicographer who wrote the ''Dictionnaire universel de commerce''. Jacques Savary des Br� ...

. Postlethwayt also wrote several works defending the

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

and advocating for its expansion. He was a lobbyist for the Royal African Company and asserted that

was central to

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

's economic interests. In his first pamphlet, ''The African Trade, the Great Pillar and Support of the British Plantation'' (1745), Postlethwayt stated that “our West Indian and African Trades are the most nationally beneficial of any we carry on”. In reaction to those who denounced slave trade, he answered: “Many are prepossessed against this Trade, thinking it a barbarous, inhuman, and unlawful Traffic for a Christian Country to trade in Blacks” but Africans would be better off to “live in a civilized Christian Country” than among “Savages.”

Life

Born 5 May 1707, Postlethwayt was elected a

Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

on 21 March 1734. In 1743 he secured a position with the Royal Africa Company, and elected to its Court of Assistants (governing board) 17 January 1744. He wrote in the company's defence over the next two years. Postlethwayt died suddenly on 13 September 1767 aged 60. He was buried in the

Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shoreditch High ...

churchyard, in Clerkenwell.

Works

Postlethwayt spent 20 years preparing ''The Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce,'' London, 1751 (3rd edit. London, 1766; 4th edit. London, 1774), a translation, with large additions, from the French work of

Jacques Savary des Bruslons Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are over ...

. Postlethwayt drew on Savary's work and Richard Cantillion as well as other writers of the day, and clarified how economic theory applied to economic and political issues current then. Africa Bolton 1766

Postlethwayt also published: * ''The African Trade the great Pillar and Support of the British Plantation Trade in America,'' &c., 1745. * ''The Natural and Private Advantages of the African Trade considered,'' &c., 1746. * ''Britain's Commercial Interest Explained,'' Vol. I of his ''Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce'', 1747. * ''Considerations on the making of Bar Iron with Pitt or Sea Coal Fire, &c. In a Letter to a Member of the House of Commons,'' London, 1747. * ''Considerations on the Revival of the Royal-British Assiento, between his Catholic Majesty and the … South-Sea Company. With an … attempt to unite the African-Trade to that of the South-Sea Company, by Act of Parliament,'' London, 1749. * ''The Merchant's Public Counting House, or New Mercantile Institution,'' &c., London, 1750. * ''A Short State of the Progress of the French Trade and Navigation,'' &c., London, 1756. * ''Great Britain's True System. … To which is prefixed an Introduction relative to the Forming a New Plan of British Politicks with respect to our Foreign Affairs,'' &c., London, 1757. * ''Britain's Commercial Interest explained and improved, in a Series of Dissertations on several important Branches of her Trade and Police. … Also … the Advantages which would accrue … from an Union with Ireland,'' 2 vols., London, 1757; 2nd edit., ‘With … a clear View of the State of our Plantations in America,’ &c., London, 1759. * ''In Honour to the Administration. The importance of the African Expedition considered,'' &c., London, 1758. Trinidadian historian

Eric Williams Eric Eustace Williams (25 September 1911 – 29 March 1981) was a Trinidad and Tobago politician who is regarded by some as the " Father of the Nation", having led the then British Colony of Trinidad and Tobago to majority rule on 28 October ...

cited the works of Postlethwayt on the

in his seminal work ''

Capitalism and Slavery ''Capitalism and Slavery'' is the published version of the doctoral dissertation of Eric Williams, who was the first Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago in 1962. It advances a number of theses on the impact of economic factors on the decline o ...

'' (1944). E.A.J. Johnson devotes a chapter in his work
Predecessors of Adam Smith: The Growth of British Economic Thought
' (1937, reprint 1960) to Malachy Postlethwayt, ''Postlethwayt, the Publicist,'' p. 185-205.

Notes

External links

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Postlethwayt, Malachy British lexicographers Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London 1700s births 1767 deaths 18th-century lexicographers