Launch of the English translation of the "The Commerce of the Oranges in the XVIIIth Century"

On 27 March 2009 the Fondation de Malte launched the English translation of "The Commerce of the Oranges in the XVIIIth Century" by Professor Alain Blondy. This work, supported in part by APS Bank, and translated from the French original by Ms.Alina Darmanin, covers the exchange of letters during the 18th century between the Abbé Savoye in Malta with his father a grocer in Paris, giving an insight into the local development of the orange trade as well as on social, economic and cultural affairs in Malta and France during that period.

The launch took place at the Wignacourt Museum, Rabat, through the support of the Wignacourt Collegiate Museum and the Rabat Malta Local Council. The panel, chaired by Prof. Salvino Busuttil, President of the Fondation de Malte, was made up of H.E. Mr. Daniel Rondeau, Ambassador of France, Professor Alain Blondy, Mgr. John Azzopardi, curator of Wignacourt Collegiate Museum and Mr. Franco Azzopardi (who represented the Mayor of the Rabat Malta Local Council).

On the same day the book was presented to H.E. Dr. E. Fenech Adami, in one of his last acts as President of the Republic of Malta.

The book is distributed by Book Distributors Limited and is to be found in leading bookshops in Malta and Gozo

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