ABSTRACT
The Bordeaux–Dublin letters are silent on industrial espionage and make no mention of the subornment of artisans. This is not surprising. Industrial espionage was a clandestine activity and therefore unlikely to feature in normal commercial or personal correspondence. This was particularly true of activities like shipbuilding and textile production. Naturally, France and Spain were anxious to make good their technological and skills deficits. Against the background of increased mercantile competitiveness and rising mid-century military tensions, this essay traces the course of two Spanish espionage and subornment missions in the late 1740s and early 1750s. The centralizing character of this theoretical underpinning helps explain why the Spanish royal administration was so deeply involved in these mid-century recruitment schemes. The equally mercantilist English authorities, alerted by local industrial interests, were naturally concerned about foreign recruitment of local artisans. With restrictive legislation in force in Britain and general anti-French and anti-Spanish sentiment there, subornment was, of necessity, clandestine.
