Davenant, Charles (1656-1714)

Collection — Box: 1

Identifier: MS-HUT-011

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of two photostatic copies of pamhlets written, 1696-1697, by English economist, Charles Davenant. The copies were produced in the 1930s, and the location of the originals is described in the Provenance. Each photostatic copy is bound as a single volume.

"A Memorial concerning Creditt And the means and methods by which it may be restored" was written in 1696, and "A Memorial Concerning the Coyn of England," was written in 1697. Davenant wrote the pamphlets during the last decade of the 17th century when England and France wereinvolved in hostilities known as King William's War (1689-1697).

Of interest in "A Memorial concerning Creditt..." is Davenant's accounting of the treasury of Great Britain. In "A Memorial Concerning the Coyn...," Davenant considered the actual value of the coinage, whetherto raise its worth and the advisability of coining new money during the war. Together, the two pamphlets address a single important issue facing England at the time: the problem of funding the armies abroad while maintaining a stable monetary fund, one that would be sufficient to support the kingdom in the post-war period.

Dates

Creation: 1930

Creator

Davenant, Charles, 1656-1714 (Person)

Use Restrictions

Access to this collection is unrestricted.

Permission to publish material from this collection must be requested in writing from the Manuscripts Librarian, Milton S. Eisenhower Library, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Md. 21218.

Biographical Note

Charles Davenant , an English economist, was born in London in 1656. He was the eldest son of the poet, Sir William Davenant. Charles Davenant was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, but left the university without taking a degree. He was a member of parliament for St. Ives, Cornwall, and for Great Bewyn. From 1683- 1689, he held the post of commissioner of excise. From 1705 until his death, he served as inspector-general of exports and imports.

During his career in government, Davenant wrote many political and economical pamhlets. He was concerned with the what he termed "the species of money" and the related matters of national debt, public revenue, banking, and the actual issue of coinage. Davenant was a strong supporter of the mercantile theory, and he took a position recommending governmental restrictions on colonial commerces as strongly as he advocated freedom of exhange at home.

Charles Davenant died in 1714.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (2 volumes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Provenance

The photostatic copies of Charles Davenant's manuscripts were purchased through the Hutzler Fund and added to the Hutzler Collection of Economic Classics, most likely in the 1930s. The two tracts were published in 1942 as part of the Johns Hopkins University series, Reprints of Economic Tracts [ser. 5, no. 4]. In the series, the published title was Two Manuscripts. Jacob Hollander, who was the general editor of the Reprint series, was also in charge of purchasing materials for the Hutzler Collection of Economic Classics.

In 1991, the photostatic copies were cataloged as a Hutzler manuscript.

The original of "A Memorial concerning Creditt And the means and methods by which it may be restored (1696)" is the Harleian Mss. 1223 owned by the British Museum. The original of "A Memorial Concerning the Coyn of England (1697)" is also owned by the British Museum and has the same assigned number, Harleian Mss. 1223.