Wheat Trade and Wheat Prices in France, 1486-1913

This collection presents a historical survey of the price and quantity of wheat produced in different localities in France. The purpose of the study was to examine price trends of a major food commodity within an important agricultural market in Western Europe and, in particular, to measure the correlation between wheat price fluctuations and demographic fluctuations in France. Prices and quantities of wheat were recorded, either fortnightly or monthly, by local officials in the major wheat-growing areas and subsequently relayed to higher levels of the French government. These tables of information were finally copied and maintained by the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Commerce and Agriculture and ultimately deposited in the French National Archives.