[MANUSCRIPT -- FRENCH ADMINISTRATION]. Three volumes containing transcripts of various governmental reports relating to the Royal Finances during the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV. [Paris, 1741-1743]. Approx. 1650 pages, 4to, 4 large folding tables of which 3 in red and black ink, bound in 3 volumes, later buckram, covers of vol. 2 dampstained, repaired tears to first folding table. The volumes contain a total of 8 separately paginated reports. As explained in a 4-page "avant-propos" to the first volume, these transcriptions were made illicitly by an anonymous gentleman, probably a high-level administrator, who had temporary access to a collection of complete records of the royal finances for the years 1680 to 1740. The first volume contains a detailed rsum of the Royal income and expenses for a selection of 5 years from 1712 to 1740, these years having been chosen as best representing the Crown's exorbitant expenditures; and an extensive survey, in two parts, of the "Secret affairs of the finances of the realm of France from 1680 to 1740". The second volume is devoted to the years 1741-1743, and the third volume concerns the army and the military budget. An interesting manuscript, attesting to the fact that decades before the Revolution enlightened administrators of the Ancien Rgime were already gathering data on the abuses of the monarchy that would pave the way for its overthrow. (3)