[1]Stigler's Casanova’s Lottery: The History of a Revolutionary Game of Chance[2] tells how, thanks to the direct involvement of the Venetian Giacomo Casanova, the French Loterie was established, lasting from 1758 to 1836 – with a four-year interruption during the French Revolution in 1793–1797.

[1] The Loterie was unique because, unlike a raffle, the maximum possible winning to be disbursed by the state to the winners was not known in advance.

Initially established to fund the French École militaire – the discussions leading to the establishment of the school saw the direct involvement of the creator of the École militaire, Joseph Pâris Duverney, as well as of the French academician Jean d'Alembert, of Madame Pompadour and of Casanova[2]: 11–18  – the lottery was subsequently conducted under the responsibility of the ministry of finance.

[1] Among the interesting stories told in the volume is how Voltaire won a fortune of several million francs by participating to a scheme in an earlier French state lottery that aimed at reimbursing state debtors.

[3] Since the Almanach reports the winning numbers drawn since 1758 as well as the prizes paid out, it constitutes for Stigler[3] a precisely randomized survey of the French betting public [...] "more than a century before randomized surveys were invented".