The Boot and Shoe Trades in London and Paris in the Long Eighteenth Century

1/3 of the total export of French leather, smaller only to paper, porcelain, wool and
silk cloths (table 1.4)
1765
1766
1767
1768
1769
1770
1771
1772
1773
1774
Table 1.4 - Major Parisian exports, 1819-1820
Commodity
Silk 7.0
Value
(in million francs)
Wool cloth 2.35
Paper 2.5
Porcelain 2.3
Leather
Wrought 1.45
Tanned 0.65
Source: Recherches statistiques sur Ia yule de Paris (Paris, 1823), tab. 78.
Instead of localising leather production in the capital, as in the case of London,
Paris became, from the later part of the eighteenth century, the centre of commerce.
Parisian leather between 1765 and 1770 was worth about 5 million francs per year.
About 3 million francs worth of leather was exchanged at the 'Halle aux cuirs' and
2 million francs value at the 'Bureau de cuirs' (table 1.5).
Table 1.5 - Value of leather sold in Paris, 1765-1774
(In Francs) Halle aux Cuirs Bureau de Cuirs Total
2,963,190
2,649,348
2,879,964
2,803,773
3,007,211
3,059,883
2,601,465
2,718,785
3,024,245
3,292,702
Source: AN F' 2 1462: 'Regie des cuirs', untitled mss.
32
2,066,776
2,112,131
2,042,849
2,008,999
1,808,622
1,964,175
2,373,161
1,902,073
2,031,462
2,166,929
5,029,966
4,761,479
4,922,813
4,812,772
4,815,833
5,024,058
4,974,626
4,620,858
5,055,707
5,459,631