Paris

1784 · WRCAM34380 — Grenada: Printed by John Spahn 1784. 4pp. on a folio sheet folded once to quarto size. Splitting along most of the fold but the two leaves not detached. Stained along upper edge lightly tanned. Good. In a half morocco box. A very rare Grenada imprint printing extracts from the treaties which concluded the French and Indian War and the American Revolution especially those portions pertaining to Grenada and to Britain's guarantee of freedom of religion in her colonies. This proclamation was printed in Grenada by John Spahn and although undated was likely produced in 1784 following the news of Britain's re-acquisition of Grenada after the Treaty of Paris concluding the American Revolution. <br> <br> Four articles are reprinted from the Treaty of 1763 ending the French and Indian War: Article 4 passing all of Canada over to the British and ensuring freedom of religion to the former French subjects; Article 9 ceding Grenada the Grenadines St. Vincent Dominica and Tobago to the British and ensuring the same religious freedoms as those guaranteed to the former French subjects in Canada; and two articles pertaining to administrative matters. Four articles are also reprinted from the 1783 Treaty of Paris which ended the American Revolution: Article VII through which Britain ceded St. Lucia and Tobago to the French and in which the French guaranteed religious freedom to the Protestant inhabitants of the islands; Article VIII which gave Grenada the Grenadines St. Vincent's Dominica St. Christopher's Nevis and Montserrat and under which the British guaranteed religious freedom; and two other articles addressing legal and administrative questions. The third item reprinted is a proclamation by George III "given at Our Town of Fort Royal" in 1764 proclaims the sovereignty of British law on Grenada and the other recently acquired islands: "the laws of Great Britain are in force in this Island as far as the Nature and Circumstances of the Colony will permit; and that all other Jurisdictions Offices Commissions and Proceedings for the future not founded on those Our Laws of England are hereby declared to be absolutely determined utterly void and totally abolished." The Proclamation authorizes the calling of a General Assembly for the islands and gives the Governor General the power to institute laws and courts on the island until the legislature convenes. <br> <br> Printing on Grenada began as early as 1765 and continued through the French occupation of 1779-83. OCLC carries only one listing for John Spahn as a printer on Grenada - as publisher of the ST. GEORGE'S CHRONICLE AND GRENADA GAZETTE in 1800. Although the present extracts are undated it is most likely that they were printed shortly after the British regained control of Grenada in 1784. This document is not listed on OCLC nor are any Grenada imprints from the 1780s. A rare collection of treaty extracts carrying important information about the political and religious state of affairs in Grenada and the West Indies. Due to the humid climate in the area 18th-century imprints from the West Indies are virtually unobtainable. Printed by John Spahn unknown books