ABSTRACT
This chapter sheds light on the role of diplomatic manuscript writings in the transmission of Enlightenment ideas in eighteenth-century Spain. Drawing on the Memorias para la historia y juntas de Breda (1745–1748) penned by the Spanish political writer, official, and diplomat, Melchor Rafael de Macanaz (1670–1760), this chapter shows how diplomatic debates about perpetual peace and closed commercial states encouraged new ideas of reform, as flyleaves annotated in hurried, brisk and brief diplomatic letters, and disorganised aide-mémoires fostered the growth of Enlightenment debate in Spain. The chapter focuses on the connections between the Memorias and a coeval book attributed to Macanaz, the Nuevo Sistema de Gobierno Económico para la América. By drawing on the parallels and the differences between the two texts, the chapter proposes a new interpretation of the authorship of the Nuevo Sistema. This chapter argues that the printed version of the text was edited, collated, amended, and reconceptualised by other authors, on the basis of Macanaz’s Memorias and other writings, to suit new contexts and new challenges. In this way, the chapter encourages a more nuanced reading of the various contexts of reform, improvement, and political change in eighteenth-century Spain.
