The Duke of Guines and his mining company: an example of a joint stock company in northern France at the end of the 18th century

Created in 1782, the Duke of Guines' mining society was, similarly to those of Anzin and Aniche, a joint-stock company, i.e. an association of stock-h olders in which each contributor committed himself according to his contrib ution. Like in many mining companies of the time, the nobility(from the hig her nobility down to the lower provincial nobility) assumed a dominant posi tion. In spite of the failure of the soundings(outside the coal basin) and its agony during the Revolution, the Guines society provides us with a new insight into the joint-stock companies in the XVIIIth century, by offering within the confines of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais an instance other than th ose of Anzin and Aniche. The first company in the Artois province to benefi t from a permit including a large part of the province and above all nearly the whole of the coal basin, it remains an interesting testimony of indust rial capitalism at the end of the XVIIIth century.