Collection of Four Saint Lucian Customs Receipts, 1792

Four printed and manuscript receipts, each a single folio sheet (approx. 22 × 17 cm), completed in ink, dated, and signed. The forms are printed with the heading "Ste-Lucie" and filled out in different hands, then signed by Landais fils. Rare group of four printed and manuscript customs receipts documenting exports and imports at Castries, Saint Lucia, in 1792, during a brief period when Saint Lucia maintained its own local administration and printing. A remarkable surviving group of four official receipts documenting the taxation of colonial goods in late 18th-century Saint Lucia, offering rare evidence of the island's economic structure and local print culture during a volatile period of transition between French and British imperial control. These printed and manuscript customs receipts, all issued in 1792, issued by the Receveur-Général du Domaine du Roi, records both exports and imports processed through the port of Castries. Two of the documents concern the export of local goods, almost certainly coffee, which was among Saint Lucia's most valuable exports and central to its external trade, while the other two relate to the importation of goods arriving from Europe. Printed with the heading "Ste-Lucie" and completed by hand, the receipts represent the standardized forms used by colonial officials to record duties collected, referencing precise ledger and folio numbers for accountability. Their format includes a dedicated printed line for coffee duty, highlighting the crop's fiscal importance. Based on their design and what is known of local printing, we surmise that the forms were produced by Jean-Baptiste Thounens, who operated the only press in Castries before relocating to Martinique in 1790. All four documents are signed by Landais fils, almost certainly Étienne Landais, treasurer of Saint Lucia. Although Saint Lucia was detached from Martinique for civil government in 1786, financial matters remained centralized. While the receipts capture the daily workings of the local customs office, the countersignatures and annotations show that revenues collected in Castries were still verified and controlled through Martinique. Together, they reflect the island's mixed plantation economy and its position within the layered structure of French colonial governance on the eve of the Revolutionary Wars. Two of the documents are export receipts dated 10 May 1792, issued to Jean Saint-Foix, master of the schooner La Théque. Entered under consecutive folio numbers, they record duties of 9 livres 12 sols and 6 livres 19 sols. The format strongly suggests that the cargo consisted primarily of coffee. A manuscript note, par rechargement ("for re-shipment"), appears on the second receipt, indicating that some goods were being forwarded after arriving from another port. On the reverse, both receipts bear manuscript endorsements from Saint-Pierre, Martinique, signed by De Praille and D'Anguy, members of prominent administrative families there. These notes authorize the treasurer of Saint Lucia to reimburse the amounts paid, indicating that while duties were collected locally, revenues were ultimately processed through Martinique. The other two receipts record import duties: one, dated 9 April 1792, for 480 livres, concerns the Dutch brig Le Thélémaque commanded by Henry Ficher; the other, dated 29 October 1792, for 50 livres, was issued to Nicolas, master of La Théque. Both forms include a printed reference to gunpowder, underscoring its strategic importance amid regional unrest, and bear numerical annotations and docketing marks on the verso, likely related to internal accounting within the colonial treasury. The receipts also reveal differing duty rates: the smaller transaction was taxed at 1%, while the larger was taxed at 2%, a difference possibly reflecting the origin or composition of the cargo. The receipts are notable as rare survivals of early printed material connected to Saint Lucia. Until 1786, all official printing for the isl. …