THE ‘BELLIAL DES VERTUS’ ENIGMA AND THE BEGINNINGS OF PHYSIOCRACY

Abstract

In an important work written in 1759, Quesnay quoted twice a book authored by a ‘Bellial des Vertus’ and published in 1759, Essai sur l’administration des terres (EAT). We prove that these quotations are of fundamental importance for the Physiocratic doctrine. We show that EAT was essentially written in 1754–1755, when Physiocracy did not yet exist. A detailed study of EAT and of the works of Quesnay and of Charles Richard de Butre, Quesnay’s disciple and collaborator, leads us to suggest that Quesnay was influenced by EAT before its publication, and to believe that Butre was the author of EAT. The attribution of EAT to Butre rests on a great variety of arguments and has allowed us to identify other texts by Butre, and to better grasp the publishing practices of the Physiocratic journals in the 1760s. The paper revisits the beginnings of Physiocracy and improves our knowledge of Butre.