An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1776.
First edition. Two volumes, quarto (282 × 218 mm). Contemporary polished tan calf, red and green morocco labels, single gilt rules either side of raised bands, decorative gilt roll to board edges, text edges red. Bound without the half-title in vol. II (none called for in vol. I). A very good copy indeed, lightly rubbed, corners bumped, two small chips to spine-ends, lower joint of vol. I cracked below the last cord but holding firm, small scrape to leather surface on front cover of vol. II. These minor flaws notwithstanding, an excellent copy in a handsome and unrestored contemporary binding.
...the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought (PMM).
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).
Goldsmiths' 11392; Grolier, English 57; PMM 221; Rothschild 1897
Stock ID: 32908
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