Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Hayek, Friedrich A.. The Road to Serfdom. George Routledge & Sons Ltd, London, 1944.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, second impression. viii, 184 pp. Bound in publisher's black cloth with gilt spine lettering. Very Good with light wear and mottling to cloth, bumped corners, pages toned with age, edges a little foxed. An early printing of the classic critique of socialism and defense of the free market.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
HAYEK, Friedrich (1899-1992). The Road to Serfdom. London: George Routledge and Sons. 1944, 1944.
Price: US$506.69 + shipping
Description: [Politics] SECOND IMPRESSION. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp. 184. Publisher's black cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Very light toning and spotting to pages, toning to edges of textblock, bumping to spine, edges and corners, wear to publisher's cloth. Very good. Most of Hayek's academic life was spent at the London School of Economics, and he is widely considered to be a major contributor of the Austrian School of Economics. Throughout 'The Road to Serfdom', Hayek proposes that it is the abandonment of classical liberalism that results in a loss of individual freedom. At the time of publication, this went against the popular belief of British Marxists that fascism was a capitalist response against socialism.
Seller: Adrian Harrington Ltd, PBFA, ABA, ILAB, Royal Tunbridge Wells, KENT, United Kingdom
HAYEK, F.A.. The Road to Serfdom. London: George Routledge & Sons Ltd. April, 1944., 1944.
Price: US$641.38 + shipping
Description: Second impression. 8vo. viii, 184 pp. Publisher's black cloth, gilt lettered to the spine, early gift inscription to the front free endpaper. Neatly rebacked preserving all but the head of the spine, very good. Friedrich August Hayek's most famous work setting out many tenets of his theory of Classical Liberalism. Written in Britain during the early years of the Second World War, Hayek argued that the fascist and socialist dictatorships of the 1920s and 30s had much in common, not least their insistence on the strict governmental control of state planning, especially of the economy. In his opinion such strict central control, regardless of stripe, could only lead to totalitarianism, i.e. de Tocqueville's "road to servitude", and that true liberty could only be gained by individualism and greater levels of self determination. Published in the same format as the first printing issued the previous month, neither edition is common due to the wartime economy and the publisher's underestimation of the book's impact. This led to Routledge reissuing it in Britain several times later in the year and many times thereafter. The US edition was published by the University of Chicago, where Hayek was a professor between 1950 and 1962.
Seller: Bow Windows Bookshop (ABA, ILAB), Lewes, United Kingdom
Hayek, Friedrich A.. The Road to Serfdom. George Routledge & Sons, London, 1944.
Price: US$1924.14 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: First Edition, Second Printing, printed in April, 1944, one month after first appearance. In Good+ condition, no dust jacket. Article on Hayek pasted to front pastedown and portrait of Keynes pasted to fep. Cloth shows some surface wear. Spine small tear at gutter. Uncommon copy of a seminal work.
Seller: Caffrey Books, Oundle, United Kingdom
Hayek, F. A. [Friedrich August]. The Road to Serfdom. G. Routledge and Sons, London, New York, 1944.
Price: US$5456.92 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First UK Edition, SECOND IMPRESSION. Octavo, Pp. 184. Publisher's black cloth lettered in gilt to spine. Clean pages, the top corners of a handful of pages turned down, clean and tightly bound. In original "First State" Jacket which is not price clipped. Fraying to spine and edges, light chipping and loss to front panel and corners. The jacket is identical to that of the first printing and examples of it are rarely found. Inscription to front of jacket and contemporary name and date ( 1944 ) to verso of front board.
Seller: Kelleher Rare Books, Naas, IE, Ireland
Hayek, F. A. [Friedrich August]. The Road to Serfdom. George Routledge & Sons, LTD, London, 1944.
Price: US$6500.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: First edition, first printing. Bound in publisher's original black cloth with gilt titles on spine, lacking the scarce dust jacket. Near Fine with slight lean to the binding, light wear at extremities and soiling to cloth, corners bumped and pushed in. A lovely copy with gilt lettering bright and sharp. An influential exposition on classical liberalism.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.
HAYEK, Friedrich August von.. The Road to Serfdom.. London: George Routledge & Sons Ltd, 1944, 1944.
Price: US$7632.43 + shipping
Description: First edition, first impression, from the library of the Italian free-market political philosopher Bruno Leoni, with his ownership signature on the title page and his pencilled lines and occasional exclamation marks in the margins. Leoni (1913-1967) was a student of Austrian economics, and in his writings, especially his 1961 magnum opus Freedom and the Law, applied the principles specifically to legislation. Hayek is referenced numerous times in Leoni's work, and in turn Hayek cited Leoni as a major figure in his philosophical movement. Leoni was later president of the free-market organization the Mont Pelerin Society, which Hayek co-founded. Hayek delivered a memorial lecture for Leoni, praising him as "a scholar and international figure, the man who gained devotion and respect wherever he went, and of whom I am proud to speak as much in the name of our common friends all over the world as in my own name" (Hayek, p. 21). The Road to Serfdom, Hayek's classic polemic against centralization and collectivism, is among the most influential and popular expositions of classical liberalism and libertarianism, and "far and away the most eloquent and straightforward statement of his political and economic outlook that Hayek ever achieved" (ODNB). Though in the short term the book failed to halt the rapid extension of government power into economic life, over the next few decades the book inspired countless proponents of economic liberty, became a foundation of the revival of liberal economics, and was adopted as a guiding text in the Thatcher and Reagan projects. Cody & Ostrem B-6. Friedrich Hayek, "Bruno Leoni the Scholar", in Il Politico, vol. 33, no. 1, 1968. Octavo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Housed in custom black quarter morocco box. Light rubbing and bumping at extremities, contents lightly toned as usual. A very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
HAYEK Friedrich August von. The Road to Serfdom. , 1944.
Price: US$7696.57 + shipping
Description: First edition, first printing. 8vo. viii, 184 pp. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt (small amount of very faint spotting to endpapers and edges of text block, otherwise internally completely clean and unmarked; just a hint of rubbing to tips of spine and corners, a near fine copy). London, George Routledge & Sons Ltd. Hayek's classic polemic against centralisation and collectivism, among the most influential and popular expositions of classical liberalism and libertarianism, was ?far and away the most eloquent and straightforward statement of his political and economic outlook that Hayek ever achieved? (ODNB). Though in the short term the book failed to halt the rapid extension of government power into economic life, over the next few decades the book inspired countless proponents of economic liberty, became a foundation of the revival of liberal economics, and was adopted as a guiding text in the Thatcher and Reagan projects. An American edition of the book appeared later in the same year, published by the University of Chicago Press. Cody & Ostrem B-6.
Seller: Maggs Bros. Ltd ABA, ILAB, PBFA, BA, London, United Kingdom
Hayek, Friedrich August von [F.A.]. The Road To Serfdom.. Routledge & Sons, London, 1944.
Price: US$15000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of one of the most influential and popular expositions of classical liberalism ever published. Octavo, original black cloth. The British edition (which this example is) was published in March of 1944, preceding its American counterpart, which was published later that same year in September. Near fine in a very good dust jacket. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box made by the Harcourt Bindery. Rare, especially in the original jacket. "Hayek has written one of the most important books of our generation. It restates for our time the issue between liberty and authority with the power and rigor of reasoning that John Stuart Mill stated in his great essay, On Liberty" (Hazlitt, 82). [I]n my opinion it is a grand book. . . . Morally and philosophically I find myself in agreement with virtually the whole of it: and not only in agreement with it, but in deeply moved agreement" (John Maynard Keynes). The Road To Serfdom placed fourth on the list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the twentieth century by National Review magazine.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Hayek, F.A. [Friedrich August von]. The Road to Serfdom. George Routledge & Sons, London, 1944.
Price: US$16707.44 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: VG+/VG-. 8vo. original black cloth gilt (a little rubbed & nicked, slight toning and spotting to paperstock) in dustwrapper (price-clipped, a little toned and frayed with some chipping at extremities, small piece detached, but mostly complete and presentable); pp. viii, 184. A very good copy of a significant first edition in the rare jacket. The title was inspired by the writings of the 19th century French classical liberal thinker Alexis de Tocqueville on the "road to servitude". In the book, Hayek "[warns] of the danger of tyranny that inevitably results from government control of economic decision-making through central planning.". He further argues that the abandonment of individualism and classical liberalism inevitably leads to a loss of freedom, the creation of an oppressive society, the tyranny of a dictator, and the serfdom of the individual. Hayek challenged the view, popular among British Marxists, that fascism (including Nazism) was a capitalist reaction against socialism. He argued that fascism, Nazism and state-socialism had common roots in central economic planning and empowering the state over the individual. A highly influential book popular amongst post-war conservative thinkers, it was initially produced in a small print run under wartime economy measures, leading Hayek himself to describe it as "that unobtainable book".
Seller: Arapiles Mountain Books - Mount of Alex, Castlemaine, VIC, Australia
Price: US$400000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition of one of the most influential and popular expositions of classical liberalism ever published. Octavo, original black cloth. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Dr Karl Popper a fellow struggler for freedom with friendly greetings from F.H. Hayek." Also included is a letter signed by Karl Popper to his assistant Melitta Mew, presenting her with this book as a birthday gift (".It is the copy he sent me to New Zealand on publication of the book, with a beautiful dedication. And thank you for everything you are doing for my work (and me). Karl"), on his stationery of 136 Welcomes Road, Kenley, Surrey, and dated 23 January 1994. While this book was very special to Popper, he had been diagnosed with cancer and passed away from complications in September. Ms. Mew helped to put together Popper's lectures and essays in a book, which was published in 1996: "In search of a better world : lectures and essays from thirty years." Easily the best association copy in existence, as the lives of both of these great economists, Fredrich von Hayek (1899-1992) and Karl Popper (1902-1994) greatly impacted the other and their lives were intertwined. They both experienced the destruction of their Bourgeois Viennese families' savings by hyperinflation due to the fragility of the liberal society. While both men studied at the University of Vienna, they first met in London in 1935. Hayek was at that time employed at the London School of Economics and Popper was in the city on a visiting lectureship. While Popper accepted a position in New Zealand, where he was to remain until after World War II, he would also later assume a chair at the LSE, due to Hayek's influence there. Near fine in a good dust jacket. The British edition (which this example is) was published in March of 1944, preceding its American counterpart, which was published later that same year in September. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. "Hayek has written one of the most important books of our generation. It restates for our time the issue between liberty and authority with the power and rigor of reasoning that John Stuart Mill stated in his great essay, On Liberty" (Hazlitt, 82). Its arguments against economic control by the government inspired many politicians and economists. John Maynard Keynes has been quoted as saying, "[I]n my opinion it is a grand book. . . . Morally and philosophically I find myself in agreement with virtually the whole of it: and not only in agreement with it, but in deeply moved agreement." While the Road To Serfdom placed fourth on the list of the 100 best non-fiction books of the twentieth century by National Review magazine, it was not as popular at the time of its writing, and Karl Popper was one of Hayek's few intellectual allies. He shared many of Hayek's views and Hayek even read the manuscript of Popper's own work, The Open Society and Its Enemies, prior to his publication of this book.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Hayek, Friedrich August von [F.A.]. The Road To Serfdom.. Routledge & Sons, London, 1944.
Price: US$450000.00 + shipping
Description: Friedrich August von Hayek's first edition personal copy of one of the most influential books of the twentieth century and the most popular exposition of classical liberalism ever published. Octavo, original cloth. Hayek's personal copy with his ownership name to the front free endpaper, "F.A. Hayek" and notation, "published March 10th, 1944" and list of 12 early critical reviews of the book to the verso of the rear endpaper, "Reviews: Tablet 11/3/44 (Douglas Woodruff); Sunday Times 12/3 (1 or 2 volumes) Harold Hobson 2. 9/4 (G.M. Young); Birmingham Post 14/3 (T.W.H); Yorkshire Post 29/3; Financial News 30/3; Listener 30/3; Daily Sketch 30/3; Times Literary Suppl. 1/4; Spectator 31/3 M. Polanzi; Irish Times 25/3; Observer 9/4 (George Orwell); Manchester Guardian 14/4 (W)." As a powerful challenge to the developing establishment consensus on both sides of the Atlantic for a proactive role for the state, The Road to Serfdom entrenched Hayekâs status as a strong voice of the libertarian right. Written during the wartime period when the London School of Economics, where Hayek had taught since 1931, was evacuated to Cambridge, the work was written to address the likely mode of government in Post-War Britain, yet proved to be much more widely applicable. Fearing the growing enthusiasm for state intervention and planning in 1940s Britain and its similarities to the roots of Nazi tyranny, Hayek argued that it would be impossible for a planned economy to mimic the complexities of the free market (in which information is naturally widely dispersed) and that, in their attempt to gather the information and resources needed to establish an efficient market, planners would be pushed towards an ever-increasing accumulation of power. This accumulation of information and power would, Hayek argued, lead inexorably towards totalitarianism, leading the nation down a "road to serfdom." Hayekâs politics left him in a somewhat lonely position in the middle decades of the 20th century. When Churchill claimed during the 1945 General Election campaign that the Labour party would need âsome sort of Gestapoâ to fulfill its commitments to a Welfare State, this outburst was blamed on Hayek, and The Road to Serfdom was ferociously attacked by the New Dealers in the United States. The book received both praise and criticism upon publication in 1944. In his April 9, 1944 review in the Observer (a year before the publication of Animal Farm), George Orwell stated "By bringing the whole of life under the control of the State, Socialism necessarily gives power to an inner ring of bureaucrats, who in almost every case will be men who want power for its own sake and will stick at nothing in order to retain it. Britain, he says, is now going the same road as Germany, with the left-wing intelligentsia in the van and the Tory Party a good second. The only salvation lies in returning to an unplanned economy, free competition, and emphasis on liberty rather than on security. In the negative part of Professor Hayekâs thesis there is a great deal of truth. It cannot be said too often â" at any rate, it is not being said nearly often enough â" that collectivism is not inherently democratic, but, on the contrary, gives to a tyrannical minority such powers as the Spanish Inquisitors never dreamed of." Yet, being true to his leftist leanings, Orwell also professed that he could not endorse Hayek's program: "Professor Hayek is also probably right in saying that in this country the intellectuals are more totalitarian-minded than the common people. But he does not see, or will not admit, that a return to "free" competition means for the great mass of people a tyranny probably worse, because more irresponsible, than that of the State. The trouble with competitions is that somebody wins them. Professor Hayek denies that free capitalism necessarily leads to monopoly, but in practice that is where it has led, and since the vast majority of people would far rather have State regimentation than slumps and unemployment, the drift towards collectivism is bound to continue if popular opinion has any say in the matter â¦Capitalism leads to dole queues, the scramble for markets, and war. Collectivism leads to concentration camps, leader worship, and war. There is no way out of this unless a planned economy can somehow be combined with the freedom of the intellect, which can only happen if the concept of right and wrong is restored to politics." With Hayek's corrections in pencil to pages 39 and 111, marginal notes in pencil to pages 130-131 and 137, marginal note in pen to page 107, and a newspaper clipping of a satirical poem on 'World Planners' to the front pastedown. Also with an autograph manuscript transcription in Hayek's hand on his King's College, Cambridge letterhead of Morris Bishop's 'For the Tomb of Economic Man' which appeared in the September 12, 1942 issue of The New Yorker Magazine laid in. Near fine in the scarce original dust jacket which is in very good condition. Housed in a custom full morocco clamshell box. "Hayek has written one of the most important books of our generation. It restates for our time the issue between liberty and authority with the power and rigor of reasoning that John Stuart Mill stated in his great essay, âOn Libertyâ" (Hazlitt, 82), but in the decades that followed Hayek was key to bringing reinvigorated free-market ideas back to the intellectual and political mainstream. Hayekâs powerful critique of the planned economy and his moral defense of capitalism caused a sensation when it was published on March 10, 1944. The first edition of 20,000 copies sold out almost immediately. An American edition followed in September 1944, and the book reached a much wider audience through the condensed version that appeared in Readerâs Digest in April 1945. As a powerful challenge toÂthe developing establishment consensus on both sides of the Atlantic for a pro-active role for the state, the book entre
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.