including
Economic Theory & The History of Economic Thought
Economic and Social History
Social Thought, Sociology, and the History of Ideas
The items listed in this catalogue are presented as a small but representative sample of our inventory in economics and related subjects. We welcome further inquiries.
A selective topical index
American Economic Thought, 19th Century: 13, 21, 78
Austrian Economics: 4, 34, 35, 68
Banking: see Money and Banking
Commerce (17th - 18th Centuries): 16, 18, 96, 97
Education: 12
Finance, Speculation: 52, 53, 67
France, 18th Century: 17, 52, 54, 67, 89, 105
Institutionalism: 1
Italian Books, 18th Century: 16, 22, 30, 111, 112
Keynes: 44-49
Marginalist Revolution: 74, 115, 116
Mathematical Economics: 15, 69, 88, 104, 115, 116
Money and Banking: 5, 6, 7, 13, 21, 24-26, 41, 50-52, 79, 82, 85, 91, 106, 117
Numismatics: 103
Penology: 31
Scotland, Scottish Englightenment: 10, 39, 40, 96
Slavery: 20
Smith, Adam: 100-102
Socialism, Radicalism, and Utopian Thought: 9, 14, 17, 27, 43, 55, 63, 71-73, 93
Sociology: 38, 59, 60, 75, 92, 118, 119
South Sea Company: 97
Tea Trade: 107
Textiles: 105
INDEX Page 1: A - F
Page 2: G -L
1. Ayres, C.E. THE PROBLEM OF ECONOMIC ORDER. N.Y., Farrar, (1938). 92pp. Orig. cloth (a little soiled). First edition. Ayres was a leading institutionalist, whose teaching and works exerted great influence. This is one of his earliest works on economics. Scarce. New Palgrave. $75.00
2. Berkeley, George. DIALOGUES ENTRE HYLAS ET PHILONOUS, dont le but est de demontrer clairement la realite & la perfection de l'entendement humain ... contre les sceptiques et les athe'es ... traduit de l'anglois. A Amsterdam, 1750. 2 p.l., xx, 288pp. With 3 engraved vignettes. Complete with half-title. A fine copy bound in contemporary mottled calf, spine richly gilt (a few spots a trifle rubbed), raised bands, leather label. $550.00
First edition in French of what Keynes calls one of Berkeley's major works. Precisely because of its popular dialogue form it was especially effective in spreading Berleley's theory of knowledge among a wide public. It was also translated into German. The translator here is Gua de Malves, who did service as translator for a number of British economic works (see Coquelin & Guillaumin I, 846, and Kress 5609). Our copy contains many more cancels than are indicated by Keynes. Keynes #12, title page illustrated on p.34. Jessop 62. NUC lists only MiU and CtY.
3. Blaug, Mark. RICARDIAN ECONOMICS: A HISTORICAL STUDY. New Haven, Yale U. Press, (1964). 269pp. Orig. cl., d.j. fine. First edition, second printing. $35.00
4. Boehm-Bawerk, Eugen von. KAPITAL UND KAPITALZINS. Vierte, unveraenderte Auflage. Mit einem Geleitwort von Prof. Dr. Friedrich Wieser. Jena, Fischer, 1921. 2 volumes in 3. A very good set in original printed boards, spines darkened. The complete work: Part I - Geschichte und Kritik der Kapitalzins-Theorien; Part II- Positive Theorie des Kapitales. Fourth and best edition, containing the definitive text with the author's revisions (as presented in the third edition) with a new preface by von Wieser. Schumpeter describes it as a towering achievement, a conception of the entire economic process viewed in terms of the problem of interest and profit, worthy of comparison with the work of Marx, of which it stands as a profound criticism. cf.Ten Great Economists, p.152f. $250.00
5. Bosanquet, J(ames) W(hatman) (1804-1877). METALLIC, PAPER, AND CREDIT CURRENCY, and the means of regulating their quantity and value. London, Pelham Richardson, 1842. 155pp. Orig. publisher's cloth, lettered in gilt, spine faded, still a fine copy. $575.00
First and only edition. Inscribed by the author to one William Gibbs, May 1842. An able and quite sophisticated essay on monetary policy. The author, a banker by profession, begins by summarizing his views on the nature of money and the definition of the money supply; he then states his adherence to the quantity theory, his views on convertibility, and his main concern, which is to stabilize the value of the currency against fluctuations caused by overissue, underissue, or variation in the market price of gold. The full analysis which follows reveals an impressive grasp of banking practice, statistics, and the views of contemporaries. More than just a theoretical or factual exercise, this is an original, highly detailed proposal for the reform of banking practice. James W. Bosanquet (no relation to Charles Bosanquet) entered the family banking business at the age of eighteen, becoming a partner in the banking house of Bosanquet, Salt, & Co. This is his earliest publication. He also wrote on the Bank Act of 1844. Thereafter his interest shifted to Biblical archaeology where he made important contributions. See DNB. Kress C5744.
6. Bresciani-Turroni, Costantino. THE ECONOMICS OF INFLATION. A study of currency depreciation in post-war Germany 1914-1923. With a foreword by Lionel Robbins ... translated by Millicent E. Sayers. London, Allen & Unwin, (1953). 464pp. Orig. cl. d.j. little chipped, else fine. First edition in English, "substantially revised by the author." Second impression, first published in 1937. The Italian original was 1931. $50.00
7.Briscoe, John. A DISCOURSE ON THE LATE FUNDS OF THE MILLION-ACT, LOTTERY-ACT, AND BANK OF ENGLAND. Shewing that they are injurious to the nobility and gentry, and ruinous to the trade of the nation. Together with proposals for the supplying their majesties with money on easy terms, exempting the nobility ... from taxes ... and enriching all the subjects in the kingdom ... The second edition, with large additions. London, Printed by J.D. and sold by R. Baldwin, 1694. 4to. 108pp. Recent 1/4 calf. A fine copy. $750.00
A detailed proposal for a Land Bank-one of the most important challenges of the period to the recently established Bank of England. This is the second edition, to which Briscoe has added a 46-page Dialogue; it was published in the same year as the first. A third and final edition, with a new appendix, appeared in 1796. Along with Chamberlin and Asgill, Briscoe was the leading proponent of Land Banks at the end of the 17th century. When he was not totally absorbed in attacks on the Bank of England, he was embattled with his rivals, especially Chamberlin, over the charge of plagiarism. In 1695 he established a Land Bank in Exchange Alley which, however, lasted only a year. This is Briscoe's principal work, in which his scheme and its rationale are fully explained. For full discussions of this important if contentious figure see Horsefield, Keith, British monetary experiments 1650-1710, 1960, pp.180-95, 201-9, and Richards, R.D., The early history of banking in England, 1958. Wing B-4747. Kress 1833. Goldsmiths' 3021. No edition in Einaudi.
8. Cantillon, Richard. ESSAI SUR LA NATURE DU COMMERCE EN GENERAL. Edited with English translation and other material by Henry Higgs. London, Macmillan, 1931. 394pp. Frontis. Orig. cl., slightly faded else a fine copy. $150.00
First complete and reliable edition in English. A corrupt English translation from the 1755 French edition appeared in 1759. Higgs has returned to both the 1755 French edition and the works of Postlethwayt, where much of the work first appeared, probably in the original English text. The text here is given in French and English on facing pages. Also included is a reprint of Jevons's 1881 article of rediscovery, and Higgs' own account of Cantillon's life and work, with Higgs' characteristic bibliographical detail.
9. Cobbett, William. COBBETT'S LEGACY TO LABOURERS ... In six letters, addressed to the working people of England ... London: published at 11, Bolt Court, Fleet street, 1835. 16mo. 141pp. Later 3/4 mor. $150.00
One of Cobbett's last works; he died in June, 1835. This "was to become almost a handbook for the opponents of the New Poor Law."- Pearl 212. The book was issued in January of 1835, but some copies are dated 1834. This is either a second printing or a second edition. Kress C3926. Goldsmiths' has only "1834." Einaudi has an 1872 edition only.
10. Cobbett, William. COBBETT'S TOUR IN SCOTLAND; AND IN THE FOUR NORTHERN COUNTIES OF ENGLAND: in the autumn of the year 1832. London, 1833. 264pp. Contemporary 3/4 calf. A fine copy with the contemporary armorial bookplate of Alexander Speirs, of Elderslie. $250.00
First edition in book form, consisting of articles written for the Political Register in the autumn of 1832; with some added original material. Kress C3441. Pearl 193.
11. (Colbert) Joubleau, Felix. ETUDES SUR COLBERT, ou exposition du systeme d'economie politique suivi en france de 1661 a 1683. Paris, Guillaumin, 1856. Two volumes, 8vo. Complete with half-titles, foredges untrimmed. A very fine attractive set bound in contemporary 3/4 calf gilt, spines gilt with double contrasting labels. Inscribed presentation from the author to "le marquis de Trevise, chambellan de l'Empereur" with engraved book ticket. $400.00
A choice copy of the first and only edition of an important original study of this major figure based on original unpublished sources. Awarded the prize of the Academie des Sciences Morales et Politiques in 1856. One of a select group of prodigious Colbert studies that appeared in 19th century France, and a work of lasting reference value. About half of the first volume is devoted to French finance in the 17th century; the second volume contains a full chapter on French finance from the death of Colbert to the fall of Louis-Philippe. Stamhammer p.42. Masui p.494. Not in Einaudi. The NUC lists 7 copies, but this is not at all a common book.
Education of the London poor
12. Colquhoun, Patrick. A NEW AND APPROPRIATE SYSTEM OF EDUCATION FOR THE LABOURING PEOPLE; elucidated and explained according to the plan which has been established for the religious and moral instruction of male and female children admitted into the free school ... in the City of Westminster ... London: Printed by Savage ... for J. Hatchard, 1806. 93pp. + 2pp. publ. ads. Outer wraps a bit dusty, but a fine uncut copy, original stitching as issued. $650.00
First and only edition of an account of the school founded by the author in 1803 for educating poor children, using methods based on Bell's theories. Colquhoun was an influential philanthropist, enlightened reformer, and pioneering metropolitan London police magistrate whose writings constitute some of the most reliable accounts of the growing social problems of the early Industrial Revolution. DNB. Goldsmiths' 19291. Black 2497. Not in Kress.
Plastic money
13. Colwell, Stephen. THE WAYS AND MEANS OF PAYMENT: a full analysis of the credit system with its various modes of adjustment. Phila., Lippincott, 1859. Large 8vo. Original publisher's cloth, neatly rebacked in cloth. $375.00
First edition. A notable original American contribution to the theory of money and banking. Colwell maintains that money of account ought to be divorced from precious metals or anything valued as a commodity; a currency of account based solely on private credit geared to the volume of business is all that is required to effect payment. This, like all of Colwell's writings on economics, reflects a remarkable degree of scholarship and interest in the literature; Colwell had in fact amassed a major personal library of economics. A strong advocate of protection, high prices, and credit expansion as conditions of economic growth, Colwell also emerged here as an important critic of the quantity theory of money, influenced to some extent by Tooke's income theory of price. DAB. Dorfman II, p.819-26 containing a fine discussion of Colwell's highly original thought.
14. Comte, Auguste . APPEL AUX CONSERVATEURS. Paris, chez l'auteur et chez Victor Dalmont, 1855. xxxi,136pp., 3 folding tables; half-title present. Moderate foxing (heavier towards the end.) Contemp. 1/4 mor., rubbed. A good copy. $500.00
First and only lifetime edition. One of Comte's last works in which he explicity integrates the religious, moral, and reformist side of his thought with "positivism" as a "scientific" enterprise. Earlier, in 1852, Comte had published the Catechisme positiviste, ou sommaire de la religion universelle, in which he conveyed his religious vision to women and the proletariat. In this companion piece he addresses the same message to those who would serve as guardians of the revolution, the administrators and public officials. The work serves also as an excellent statement of Comte's conception of positivism as a complex, integrated, and advanced state of human consciousness - a far cry from the narrow, exclusionary definition based on empiricism. See the article by Rene Koenig in I.E.S.S, III, esp. p.203. Einaudi has only an 1899 Spanish translation.
15. Condorcet , (Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat, marquis de). THE LIFE OF M. TURGOT ... translated from the French. With an appendix. London, J. Johnson, 1787. xvi, 419pp., without the errata leaf. Fine engraved portrait of Turgot inserted. Several pertinent early 19th century newspaper clippings affixed to endpapers. Light browning, minor stain to outer blank corner of final leaves. Bound in 19th century 3/4 calf, leather label, front joint a little worn and a bit weak, still a very good, presentable copy. With the ownership signature of the great American lawyer Rufus Choate (1799-1859). $750.00
First edition in English, from the original French edition of 1786. The two memoires of Turgot published by Condorcet and Dupont de Nemours together constitute the principal contemporary source for the life and work of this preeminent reformer and political economist. Condorcet's work is also recognized today for its contribution to mathematical economics which is found in an elaborate note (given here as an appendix) investigating in mathematical language the incidence of taxation for different kinds of taxes. Condorcet was not only an important social thinker but also an accomplished mathematician. Kress B1193. I.N.E.D. 1186. Goldsmiths' 13301. The English edition is not in Einaudi. Theocaris, Early developments in mathematical economics (1961), p.70f. Jevons, Principles, 5th ed., p.323.
16. Constantini , (Giuseppe Antonio) ELEMENTI DI COMMERCIO, o siano regole generali ... di Giovanni Sappetti Cosentino. Genova (i.e. Venice), Giambatista Novelli, 1762. (xxiv),237,(1)pp. Fine engraved frontispiece. A fine, fresh, uncut copy in contemporary paper covers, with generous margins. Early bookplate of Sigismund, Baron de Moll, an official of the Austrian government. $650.00
Second edition, first published anonymously in 1749. This is an exposition of the ideas of Jean Melon, once secretary to John Law but later one of Law's strongest critics. The work was successful as can be seen from the range of editions. The Genoa imprint here is false, place of publication being Venice, and the author's name as given in the title is a pseudo-anagram. All editions are rare; NUC lists only this one, in a single copy (Kress). Einaudi has only a 1784 edition. Not in Higgs. Kress Italian 320. Goldsmiths' 9764A. James Ford Bell Library cat. C644.
The work of a madman
17. (Darigrand. Attr.) L'ANTROPOPHAGIE, OU LES ANTROPOPHAGES. A Amsterdam, 1764. 37pp., engraved frontispiece. Contemporary plain wrappers. Uncut, and in fine condition. $450.00
First edition (reprinted in 1774 and 1784). An impassioned attack against the French tax collectors and the entire oppressive system of taxation, one of the major factors leading to the Revolution. Attributed, without complete certainty, to Darigrand, author of the equally notorious L'Anti-Financier, for which he was imprisoned in 1763. The fanaticism of the present tract was noted by contemporaries, who referred to it as a frightening attack, the work of a madman. The allegorical frontispiece depicts a procession of fermiers generaux armed with whips. The woodcut device of a beetle found on the title page conveys the insidious connotation of the title. I.N.E.D. 4546. The NUC lists four copies (MH-BA, KU, MnU, NNC). Not in the Kress catalogue but in the collection. Not in Goldsmiths'. Higgs 3303. Le Bucher Bibliographique 550.
18. Decker , Matthew. AN ESSAY ON THE CAUSES OF THE DECLINE OF THE FOREIGN TRADE ... second edition, with additions. London: printed for John Brotherton, 1750. 12mo. (xx),183pp. Recent 1/4 calf antique, raised bands gilt, red leather label, marbled sides. Moderate browning, still a very good copy. $475.00
An important liberal precursor of Adam Smith, who had a 1756 reprint of this edition in his library. Written in response to the highly successful protectionist work by Joshua Gee, The trade and navigation of Great Britain considered (9 English editions from 1729 to 1767), this little treatise comes out squarely in favor of unrestricted commerce. It also supports a single tax on luxuries, and discusses monopolies, employment of the poor, and international commerce, with a good deal of comment on trade with Ireland, India, the Levant, and America. With a postcript to the original preface and corrections to the text. There were editions in 1744, 1750, and 1756, also two Dublin reprints in 1749 and 1751. Kress 5024. Hanson 5780. cf.Higgs 8. James Ford Bell Library Cat. D95 (1756 ed.)
19. Dewey, John. PSYCHOLOGY. New York, Harper & Brothers, 1887. xii,427pp. Original publisher's cloth. Light browning due to paper stock. Otherwise a fine copy. First edition of Dewey's first book. $350.00
The natural equality of Blacks
20. Dickson, William . LETTERS ON SLAVERY, by William Dickson, formerly private secretary to the ... governor of Barbadoes. To which are added, addresses to the whites and to the free negroes of Barbadoes; and accounts of some negroes eminent for their virtues and abilities. London: printed and sold by J. Phillips ... 1789. x,190pp., errata leaf. Contemporary calf, spine with simple gilt chain rules, leather label (small piece missing from blank outer corner). Small unobtrusive dampstain to margin of first few leaves, otherwise a very good copy in fresh, unsophisticated condition. With a four line ms. note (last line cropped) in the author's hand on p.108. $1250.00
First edition. Handler calls Dickson "one of the most useful and intelligent observers on the institution of slavery in Barbadoes .. he makes many shrewd sociological assessments of the working of the slave system ... an important book for the study of Barbadoes social history." Dickson was an enlightened liberal of his day, who argued for an end to the slave trade and gradual, but not immediate, emancipation. Another important feature of this book is Dickinson's strong belief in the natural equality of blacks, based on personal observation supported by numerous references to Samuel Stanhope Smith's famous Essay and similar works. Further evidence is provided in a series of "accounts of negroes remarkable for their virtues and abilities" (pp.180-87). which includes two letters from Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia dated November, 1788, one of which is a testimonial on behalf of James Derham, of New Orleans, a black doctor practicing in Philadelphia. These letters, as well as several accounts taken from a private journal kept in Barbadoes, are published here for the first time. There is also a substantial section devoted to Jamaica (pp.103-64), which is missed by Cundall. Handler, Guide to ...Barbadoes history, 5253. Sabin 20094. Ragatz p.497. Beinecke Lesser Antilles Collection, 390. Not in Blockson. Not in the Catalogue of the James Ford Bell Library. Institutional holdings are well represented in the NUC, but the book is rarely offered for sale. The only listing in ABPC for 1975-1995 was a rebound copy sold at Sotheby's in 1977.
Canadian-American banking reform
21. Duncombe, Charles. DUNCOMBE'S FREE BANKING: an essay on banking, currency, finances, exchanges, and political economy. Cleveland, Sanford & Co., 1841. 12mo. 356pp., preceded by an 11 page "Memorial to Congress". Orig. publ. cloth, printed paper label, little rubbed, very light wear to head and foot of spine. A very good copy. $450.00
First and only edition of a substantial work addressing the banking and currency problem, and one with an interesting background. Duncombe was born in the U.S., settled in Canada around 1815 and became a leader of the reform party in Western Ontario. In 1835, as chairman of the finance committee of the Parliament of Upper Canada, he was sent to gather information in the U.S. on alternatives to undemocratic banking practices. On his return he collided with the conservatives, was accused of involvement in the Mackenzie rebellion, and had to flee Canada. His report on banking never appeared; instead he used the material to publish this populist book for Americans. By "free banking" Duncombe means a central bank run by democratically elected officials; a "United States Bank" would provide a stable, adequate, and uniform currency through a system of state branches. (It is important to note that Duncombe's use of the term "free banking" differs radically from the sense in which it was used by Hildreth, a pioneer in the free banking movement, and others then and now, who mean by the term a decentralized system with free entry and competition. The feature common to both usages is the opposition to chartered banking.) cf. TPL 2011 for Duncombe's investigation of American education, which did get published in Canada; also 2067, and 2118, which contains a biographical sketch. Sabin 21267. Kress C5453. Missed by Dorfman.
22. ESSAI SUR LA MANDICITE (sic), ET LES MOYENS DE LA FAIRE CESSER. Par Mr. de J ... Venise, chez Angelo Albrizzi, 1788. 12mo. 95pp. Uncut, complete with the half-title. Later 1/4 calf. A fine copy. $750.00
First edition. A rare little 18th century Italian essay on the problem of poverty, written in French and published in Venice. Unrecorded in the standard sources. An approbation leaf beginning "Noi riformatori dello studio di Padova" leaves no doubt that this is an original work, not a translation. Not found in Kress, Kress-Italian, Einaudi, Goldsmiths, Barbier, I.N.E.D, Cossa, Melzi, NUC, or OCLC, or RLIN.
23. Fauquier, Francis . AN ESSAY ON WAYS AND MEANS FOR RAISING MONEY FOR THE SUPPORT OF THE PRESENT WAR, without increasing the public debts ... The second edition. London: printed for M. Cooper ... 1756. 6 p.l., 58pp. A fine copy, complete with the half-title, bound in modern boards. $475.00
Second and by far best edition, with a new 22-page postscript. A famous essay on taxation (reprinted in the Johns Hopkins series) written by the future governor of the Colony of Virginia. The need to devise an equitable and efficient system of taxation led Fauquier to examine the actual effects of different kinds of taxes and formulate a theory of the incidence of taxation which "was later accepted by James Steuart and became part of the classical doctrine, as elaborated by Adam Smith and Ricardo."- Seligman, E.R.A., The shifting and incidence of taxation, 1910, p.30. In the first edition of this essay Fauquier endorsed Matthew Decker's "house tax" as an effective form of taxation; here he introduces a "capitation" tax which he believes will produce the same result (both are at least proportional if not progressive taxes), and in so doing clarifies the underlying principles behind these enlightened tax reforms. cf.Palgrave which discusses this second edition. Kress 5515. Goldsmiths 9156.
24. Fetter, Frank W. DEVELOPMENT OF BRITISH MONETARY ORTHODOXY 1797-1875. Cambridge, Harvard U.P., 1965. 296pp. Cl., d.j. Fine. First edition. An indespensible work of scholarship, with considerable coverage of the contemporary literature including bibliographic detail. Scarce. $75.00
25. Fisher, Irving . THE MONEY ILLUSION. N.Y., Adelphi, (1928). 245pp. New cloth. A fine copy. Inscribed by Fisher on the front free endpaper. $200.00
First edition, first printing. Inscribed by Fisher "To Sir Sydney Chapman with the compliments of Irving Fisher August 1928." One of several books by Fisher intended to mobilize support for his lifelong project to stabilize the purchasing power of money. For a full discussion see Maurice Allais in I.E.S.S.
26. Fisher , Irving. THE PURCHASING POWER OF MONEY: its determination and relation to credit, interest, and crises. New and revised edition. N.Y., Macmillan, 1920. Orig. cl., near fine. A reprint of the 1913 revised edition. The definitive text of Fisher's singlemost important contribution to monetary theory. $175.00
A rare complete Owenite periodical
27. Fleming , G.A., editor. THE UNION: a monthly record of moral, social, and education progress. Text partly in double column. London, Sherwood, Gilder, and Piper, (1842-1843). (4),468pp. Engraved frontispiece. Contemp. half-calf, leather label. A very good copy. $1500.00
First and only edition of an interesting radical Owenite periodical (complete in 10 issues). Fleming, originally a journeyman housepainter, became involved with the radical labor movement in 1834 as secretary to the Associated Trades during its attempt to rescind the sentences of the Dorchester Labourers. In 1838 he became editor of Owen's New Moral World, at a time when the radical movement was regaining local working-class strength. After the collapse of the Queenwood Community, where he lived for a time, Fleming took up journalism. He also became active in the Chartist movement and in 1851 tried unsuccessfully to revive the Northern Star. Though short-lived, the Union provides an interesting picture of the radical scene. There is, for example, a good historical account of Owen's Rational Society, especially in its later years, based, to some extent, on personal observation; the account (pp.361-372) is accompanied by a fine lithograph view of Harmony Hall at the Owenite community in Hants (here bound in as a frontispiece). The Union also covers all the major social issues of the day including: women and labor, women's education, the condition of the manufacturing population, Negro emancipation, pauper education, the poor law, repeal of the Corn Laws, cooperative experiments in England, Europe, and America, capital punishment, land allotments, the strike ("The great insurrection") of 1842, and more. The NUC lists four copies (DLC, CSt, MH-BA, NNC). Warwick Guide to British Labour Periodicals #3660 records four locations in England. Goldsmiths' 37773. For Fleming, see Pollard, S. and Salt, Robert Owen, prophet of the poor, 1971, p.118 and 110n. Rare in both institutional holdings and in trade. Complete radical periodicals of this period are now rare on the market.
INDEX Page 1: A - F
