INFORMAR, ESPECULAR, COMERCIAR: EL PROYECTO DE COMERCIO DE PIELES DE NUTRIA ENTRE AMÉRICA Y CHINA DE ALEJANDRO MALASPINA.

During the last decades of the 18th century, the trade in otter fur from the north-western coast of America in the Chinese port of Canton generated intense competition among the European powers. The Russians were later joined by the English, the French and the North Americans. The Spanish Monarchy was aware of the advantages it could have and also participated in this exchange with various commercial experiments. This paper analyses the commercial project that Alejandro Malaspina proposed to sell otter fur in China by examining the central role that information played in the speculation of these product and by studying the constant circulation of news that conditioned Malaspina's project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]