Author Archives: F. E. Guerra-Pujol

Horace Walpole’s journal entry for Monday, February 17 (1766) provides a glimpse of the ancien regime; it reads: “At night to Prince of Conti’s public night, great concert, Jéliotte and Mlle Fel sung. 4 great tables at supper, served by … Continue reading →

In my previous post, we saw that the names of Adam Smith or his pupil Duke Henry appear in Horace Walpole’s Paris journal no less than 20 times, starting with Walpole’s entry for Feb. 15, 1766, but we also saw … Continue reading →

My next set of “Smith and the City” posts will follow Horace Walpole’s Paris journal to retrace some of Adam Smith’s footsteps during the first eight weeks of Smith’s residency in Paris, i.e. until Walpole’s departure on April 17, 1766.[1] … Continue reading →

One man who Adam Smith must have befriended and spent a lot of time with–at least during the first phase of his prolonged Paris residency from February to April 1766–was Horace Walpole (1717–1797). Why do I say this? Because Walpole … Continue reading →

My previous three posts have described some of the features of the 18th-Century “Saint Germain” neighborhood of Paris, the Faubourg Saint Germain, the quarter where Smith stayed for most of 1766, but I forgot to mention one of this faubourg’s … Continue reading →

Alternative Title: The Street Lamps of the City of Lights The Faubourg Saint-Germain, the quarter of Paris where Adam Smith resided for most of 1766, not only enjoyed a daily system of garbage collection (see my previous post), this neighborhood … Continue reading →

Alternate Title: The Garbage Collectors of Paris The collection of garbage was one of the many public works under the wide-ranging jurisdiction of the police of Paris. (In addition to public safety, the police of Paris at the time also … Continue reading →

I mentioned in my previous “Smith in the City” post (see here) that Adam Smith’s principal residence in Paris in 1766, the Hotel du Parc Royal, was located in the historic Faubourg Saint-Germain. Originally, this faubourg or “suburb” was an … Continue reading →

I will resume “Smith in the City” in my next post; in the meantime, here is a Coldplay song from 2008. The part of the song starting at 2’59” was my ringtone back when I had a Blackberry!

Before I resume my multi-part “Smith in the City” series (“Smith” being Adam Smith and the “City” being Paris, not London), I want to share the following quote from the 1936 paper “New Light on Adam Smith” by William Scott, … Continue reading →