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Price: US$225000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of Adam Smith's magnum opus and cornerstone of economic thought. Quarto, 2 volumes, bound in full brown calf, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, front and rear panels, red morocco spine labels, marbled endpapers. In near fine condition. Remarkably clean throughout with some light toning. Housed in a custom half morocco calf clamshell box, elaborately gilt decorated spines. An exceptional example of this landmark work. "First published in 1776, Adam Smith's masterpiece The Wealth of Nations, is the foundation of modern economic thought and remains the single most important account of the rise of, and the principles behind, modern capitalism. It took Smith ten years to produce An Inquiry into the Wealth of Nations. His commentary during such an incremental time, the first years of the Industrial Revolution, sought to reform outdated theories of mercantilist and physiocratic economic thought with broader concepts that we are all familiar with today, such as the division of labor, productivity, and free markets. An important theme that persists throughout the work is the idea that the economic system is automatic, and, when left with substantial freedom, able to regulate itself. This is often referred to as the âinvisible hand.â The ability to self-regulate and to ensure maximum efficiency, however, is limited by a number of external forces and âprivilegesâ extended to certain members of the economy at the expense of others. The 1776 publication of An Inquiry into The Wealth of Nations was the first of only five editions that were published in Adam Smithâs lifetime and greatly influenced a number of economists and philosophers of his time and those that followed, including Jean-Baptiste Say, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Malthus, and Ludwig von Mises. "The history of economic theory up to the end of the nineteenth century consists of two parts: the mercantilist phase which was based not so much on a doctrine as on a system of practice which grew out of social conditions; and the second phase which saw the development of the theory that the individual had the right to be unimpeded in the exercise of economic activity. While it cannot be said that Smith invented the latter theory.his work is the first major expression of it. He begins with the thought that labour is the source from which a nation derives what is necessary to it. The improvement of the division of labour is the measure of productivity and in it lies the human propensity to barter and exchange.Labour represents the three essential elements-wages, profit and rent-and these three also constitute income. From the working of the economy, Smith passes to its matter -'stock'- which encompasses all that man owns either for his own consumption or for the return which it brings him. The Wealth of Nations ends with a history of economic development, a definitive onslaught on the mercantile system, and some prophetic speculations on the limits of economic control.The Wealth of Nations is not a system, but as a provisional analysis it is complete convincing. The certainty of its criticism and its grasp of human nature have made it the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought" (PMM).
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$254100.00 + shipping
Description: First edition; 2 vols, 4to (31.5 x 24.5 cm); contemporary marginal annotations in pen, with half-title to vol. II, ad. for 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments' to title verso vol. I, publisher's ad. to vol. II 4F2 verso, errata vol. II [A2] verso, cancels vol. I M3, U3, 2Z3, 3A4 and 3O4, and vol. II D1 and 3Z4, vol. II p.288 misprinted 289; contemporary gilt-ruled sprinkled calf, rebacked but retaining original red and green morocco lettering-pieces, bottom and fore-edges untrimmed, wide margins (circa 6.5 cm), occasional spotting and soiling, minor marginal tears, mostly repaired, internal joints reinforced with tape; [12], 510; [4], 587, [1]pp; signatures: A4 a2 B-3T3 (bound without terminal blank); [A]2 B-4F2. The first edition of the 'first and greatest classic of modern economic thought' (PMM). Smith (d.1790) spent ten years writing and perfecting The Wealth of Nations, the popularity of which surpassed its publisher's expectations upon release; the estimated supply of between 500 and 750 first edition copies was exhausted within the first six months of printing, and four further editions were issued within Smith's lifetime. As the title explains, the work is fundamentally an investigation into what makes certain nations prosperous. Smith's originality lies in locating the roots of this comparative wealth in the specialisation of labour which had occurred in developed economies, for the 'annual labour of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniencies of life which it annually consumes, and which consist always, either in the immediate produce of that labour, or in what is purchased with that produce from other nations' (Introduction). Our copy with contemporary marginal annotations summarising Smith's arguments as the text progresses. These aides-mémoire include key observations such as the 'Principle of division = the propensity to exchange.' (p.16), and that 'labour is the real measure of exchangeable value' (p.35). 'The history of economic theory up to the end of the nineteenth century consists of two parts: the mercantilist phase which was based not so much on a doctrine as on a system of practice which grew out of social conditions; and the second phase which saw the development of the theory that the individual had the right to be unimpeded in the exercise of economic activity. While it cannot be said that Smith invented the latter theory. his work is the first major expression of it. He begins with the thought that labour is the source from which a nation derives what is necessary to it. The improvement of the division of labour is the measure of productivity and in it lies the human propensity to barter and exchange. Labour represents the three essential elementswages, profit and rentand these three also constitute income. From the working of the economy, Smith passes to its matter'stock'which compasses all that man owns either for his own consumption or for the return which it brings him. The Wealth of Nations ends with a history of economic development, a definitive onslaught on the mercantile system, and some prophetic speculations on the limits of economic control' (PMM). ESTC T96668; Kress 7261; Rothschild 1897; PMM 221.
Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$288621.36 + shipping
Description: First edition of "the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought" (PMM). The first edition is thought to have had a press run of either 500 or 750 copies (Tribe). In his Wealth of Nations, Smith "begins with the thought that labour is the source from which a nation derives what is necessary to it. The improvement of the division of labour is the measure of productivity and in it lies the human propensity to barter and exchange. The Wealth of Nations ends with a history of economic development, a definitive onslaught on the mercantile system, and some prophetic speculations on the limits of economic control" (PMM). "The Wealth of Nations had no rival in scope or depth when published and is still one of the few works in its field to have achieved classic status, meaning simply that it has sustained yet survived repeated reading, critical and adulatory, long after the circumstances which prompted it have become the object of historical enquiry" (ODNB). Einaudi 5328; Goldsmiths' 11392; Grolier, English 57; Kress 7621; Printing and the Mind of Man 221; Rothschild 1897; Tribe 9; Vanderblue, p. 3. 2 volumes, quarto (273 x 208 mm). Contemporary calf, rebacked and recornered to style, spines richly gilt with twin black morocco labels, new endpapers. Housed in custom-made brown quarter morocco solander box by J. & S. Brockman. Bound with terminal blank leaf in Volume I and half-title in Volume II. Extremities restored, light scuffing to covers, light staining in gutter of early leaves, some foxing to contents: a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom