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The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, early edition 1786
About the Item
4th Edition of the magnum opus of the Scottish economist and moral philosopher Adam Smith.
Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
London: A. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1786.
4th edition. 3 volumes, 4to; 8 1/4 x 5 inches (210 x 140 mm); Vol. 1: vii, 499 + errata; Vol. 2: vi, 518, [5] Appendix + errata; Vol. 3: v, + errata, 465, [49] Index + (1) ad pp. Printed on handmade cream laid paper, pages clean, supple, and unmarked with some offset; small wormhole on bottom corner of latter sheets in vol. 3, not affecting the text; offset to edges of flyleaves. Contemporary full mottled brown calf bindings, darker for vol. 1; all 3 volumes professionally rebacked, with gilt decorations on spines and gilt title on morocco labels; bindings square and tight.
Armorial bookplate of John Pitcairn pasted inside front cover of each volume. A indecipherable snippet of manuscript with a date 1793 was as a bookmark between pages 204 and 205 of vol. 2.
[PMM 363; ESTC T96679]
A BEAUTIFUL SET of this SEMINAL WORK on ECONOMICS, "The first and greatest classic of modern economic thought." (Printing and the Mind of Man, 221) "Although Adam Smith did not create the study of political economy, The Wealth of Nations, coming at a point when ‘natural liberty’ was being widely debated, had a decisive influence both on the study of national economy and on the freeing of economic policy from the artificial restraint of the mercantilist system. Smith’s statement that labour is the source of a nation’s commodities and that the variations in ‘stock’ values are due to the interaction of wages, profits, and rent, formulated the doctrine of the classic school of economic thought, and round it all modern economic discussion has revolved."
This set is an early printing and only the second in 8vo format, issued only 10 years after the first two-volume quarto edition; this is the last edition with any changes, and includes a new preface never before printed. In the 'Advertisement' leaf in volume I to this edition Adam Smith writes 'In this fourth edition I have made no alterations of any kind. I now, however, find myself at liberty to acknowledge my very great obligations to Henry Hop of Amsterdam. To that Gentleman I owe the most distinct, as well as liberal information, concerning a very interesting and important subject, the Bank of Amsterdam; of which no printed account had ever appeared to me satisfactory, or even intelligible...' Adams seems to have been very involved with this printing of his work. He wrote to his publisher Andrew Strahan in February 1786 'I beg you will employ one of your best compositors in printing the new edition of my book. I must, likewise beg that a compleat copy be sent to me before it is published, that I may revise and correct it. You may depend upon my not detaining you above a week. . ."
- Dimensions:Height: 8.27 in (21 cm)Width: 5.52 in (14 cm)Depth: 3.94 in (10 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 3
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:1786
- Condition:Repaired: all 3 volumes are rebacked. Wear consistent with age and use.
- Seller Location:Middletown, NY
- Reference Number:Seller: BH671stDibs: LU8340240605392
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