Original French Royal Revenue-Stamped Manuscript – 16 September 1724 – Reign of King Louis XV – Généralité de Dijon – Two Sols Fiscal Stamp – Joly de la Borde Autograph Signature
An early 18th-century French legal and administrative manuscript, handwritten in French and dated Saturday, 16 September 1724, during the reign of King Louis XV (1715–1774).
The document originates from the Chancellerie attached to the Parlement of Dijon, one of the important judicial institutions of the French Ancien Régime.
It records official proceedings involving chancery officers and references royal administrative instructions, the Garde des Sceaux (Keeper of the Seals), and matters concerning official appointments, salaries and emoluments.
THE HISTORIC FRENCH REVENUE STAMP
A particularly interesting feature is the original royal fiscal stamp printed directly onto the paper, bearing the inscriptions:
"DEVX SOLS LA FEVILLE" – "GEN. DE DIJON"
This identifies the document as French royal revenue-stamped paper (papier timbré), subject to a fiscal duty of two sols per sheet within the Généralité de Dijon.
The elaborate stamp incorporates the heraldic arms of France and Navarre, arranged on either side of a central caduceus, surrounded by decorative elements.
This historic fiscal stamp design is documented in Yves Degoix's specialist study Papiers Timbrés, page 35, where an example of the same design is illustrated and dated 1724.
The stamp is an original printed fiscal impression, not an adhesive postage stamp.
ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN SIGNATURES
The manuscript bears an elegant autograph signature reading "Joly de la Borde", together with another large handwritten signature and elaborate flourish.
The Joly de la Borde family is historically documented among the Burgundian magistracy and the noblesse de robe, the judicial and administrative nobility of pre-Revolutionary France.
Georges-Bernard Joly de la Borde, a councillor of the Parlement, is recorded in the Armorial Général of 1696. This establishes the historical significance of the family name, although the precise identity of the individual signing this 1724 document has not been independently confirmed.
The second signature is clearly visible but has not been conclusively deciphered.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
This manuscript is a surviving example of royal judicial and administrative practice in Burgundy approximately six decades before the French Revolution.
Its interest lies in the combination of:
An original dated 1724 French administrative manuscript.
A decorative royal revenue stamp of two sols.
A clearly identified fiscal district, the Généralité de Dijon.
Direct references to the Parlement of Dijon and royal chancery administration.
Original handwritten signatures, including Joly de la Borde.
Historic French handwriting and period folded paper.
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