How History Unfolds on Paper: Important Americana from the Eric C. Caren Collection, Part X

Supplement a la Gazette
Paris: Imprimerie Royale, Friday, September 5, 1783. Printed broadside; 9 1/2 x 7 1/8 in. (241 x 181 mm). No. 71, p. 317. Bound into full marbled paper-covered boards, green paper spine label, stamped in gilt.

A rare and special extra to the Gazette, the official French newspaper printed by the Imprimerie Royale, announcing merely two days after its signing, the Definitive Treaty of Peace between Great Britain and the United States and France ending the American Revolution. Also announced is the preliminary treaty between Great Britain and the Netherlands, signed on September 2 (a final treaty was signed in May 1784).

The Treaty of Paris officially ended the American Revolution. Signed on September 3, 1783, by American delegates Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay, along with British representatives David Hartley and Richard Oswald, the treaty ended eight years of war between Great Britain and the American colonies. After Cornwallis’s defeat at Yorktown in 1781, British leaders became more willing to pursue peace negotiations. Informal talks began in Paris in 1782 between Franklin and Oswald, later joined by Adams and Jay, as well as French and Spanish officials. Although Thomas Jefferson and Henry Laurens were originally appointed delegates, Jefferson did not attend, and Laurens arrived much later after being held captive by the British.

During negotiations, Adams and Jay discovered French and Spanish efforts to limit American interests to secure their own imperial goals. While Franklin wanted to maintain close cooperation with France, he was eventually convinced that a separate treaty with Great Britain would best protect American interests. At the same time, Lord North was replaced by Lord Shelburne, who supported American independence and believed trade would benefit Britain more than continuing the war. Negotiations moved forward once Britain agreed to recognize American independence.

A preliminary treaty reached in November 1782 favored the United States, granting them territory west to the Mississippi River, secured fishing rights near Canada, opened the Mississippi to trade and navigation, addressed repayment of debts, and promised fair treatment of Loyalists. Great Britain later finalized separate agreements with France and Spain in January 1783, while the main terms of the treaty remained mostly unchanged. Congress ratified the treaty on January 14, 1784, and Parliament approved it on April 9.

Although many Parisians probably learned of the final treaty in the broadside above, it was not until after peace went into effect on November 25 that plans for city-wide festivities were made. On December 14, large celebrations were held throughout Paris with large fire-work displays and the distribution of bread, wine, and other foodstuffs. The ceremony was a pageantry celebrating Louis XVI's triumph and the humbling of an historic foe, but only made limited reference to their ally, the new United States.

Rare, according to RBH, no other copies have come to auction. Furthermore, we cannot locate another copy on OCLC or LibraryHub.