[LACRETELLE (Pierre Louis de)] - Plaidoyers. Bruxelles [Nanc - Lot 255

[LACRETELLE (Pierre Louis de)] - Plaidoyers. Bruxelles [Nancy], s.e., 1775; in-8, 169 pp. in contemporary marbled paper prospectus (small paper tears on spine). Rare first edition of this plea for the admission of Jews to the Thionville printers' guild. "What were these two Jews from Metz really aiming at when they sued the Hôtel de Ville and the Corps des marchands de Thionville? (...). Following the famous decree of August 20, 1767, which allowed "nationals and foreigners" to take out patents, four Jews from Metz had acquired patents for Thionville: Goudchaux Spir and Moïse May, on September 15, 1767, Mayer Hadamar, on November 13, 1768, Simon Lambert, on January 24, 1769. Goudchaux Spir and Moïse May had already set up a printing works in Metz a few years earlier, so it is highly probable that both of them, as well as Mayer Hadamar and Simon Lambert, who withdrew from the case, intended to practice the same trade in Thionville because of the difficulties they faced in Metz. This proves that the whole story of this trial is nothing other than the story of the beginnings of Jewish printing in France" (Moïse Ginsburger, Revue des études juives, 1928, tome LXXXVI n°171). Contains: Plaidoyer pour Moyse May, Godechaux et Abraham Lévy, Juifs de Metz, contre l'Hôtel-de-ville de Thionville & le Corps des marchands de cette ville; p. 39: Plaidoyer pour la Dlle. D****; p. 105: Plaidoyer pour Denize D****; p. 151: Précis pour le Sr... Beautiful copy, as issued, untrimmed, with a handwritten ex-dono by the author on the title page.