Jacques Savary des Bruslons. Dictionnaire universel de commerce: contenant tout ce qui concerne le commerce qui se fait dans les quatre parties du monde. 2 vols. Paris: Jacques Estienne, 1723. 40 cm.

Jacques Savary des Bruslons descended from a noble family of merchants. His father, Jacques Savary, was a renowned economist and royal official whose overhaul of French commercial law became known as the "Code Savary." The older Jacques Savary wrote the treatise Le parfait négociant ("The Perfect Merchant," 1675), which became a classic in the field. The young Savary des Bruslons followed the family tradition and became the Inspector General of the customs house in Paris.

The Dictionnaire universel de commerce was the first comprehensive encyclopedic dictionary of commerce and commercial law in modern Europe, and remained the essential reference work in the field for the next century. In addition to several French editions, it was also translated into English, Dutch, and Italian. The work was published posthumously by his brother, Louis-Philémon Savary (1654-1727).

Bibliography:

Georges Goyau. "Savary." The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. Vol. 13. Accessed 23 April 2010 .

"Jacques Savry de Bruslons." Biographie universelle, ancienne et moderne ...: Ouvrage redigé par plus de 300 Collaborateurs, corrigée et considerablement augmentée. Brussels: H. Ode, 1847, vol. 17, p. 304.