 The dictionary was a translation and adaptation of the "Dictionnaire universel du commerce" of the French Inspector General of the Manufactures for the King, Jacques Savary des Brûlons.Postlethwayt wrote several works on the benefits to the British economy from the African slave trade to the colonies in North America.Born about 1707, Postlethwayt was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London on 21 March 1734.