MASERES, Francis (1731-1824). The Principles of the Doctrine of Life- Annuities, London: B. White, 1783. 4° (285 x 220mm). (Some leaves, including half-title and title, heavily browned at margins.) UNCUT AND PARTLY UNOPENED IN ORIGINAL BLUE BOARDS backed in paper, manuscript title on spine (spine chipped, upper joints slightly split, board edges rubbed), modern morocco-backed cloth box. FIRST AND ONLY EDITION which reprints 'An Essay on the Publick Debts of this Kingdom' (1726), 'supposed to have been written by Sir Samuel Gould', and also contains an appendix of tables compiled by Richard Price. 'Utterly unsaleable and intrinsically unreadable' in De Morgan's view. Nevertheless, this was an important review of the subject, as understood at the time, by a gifted mathematician and chess player. Goldsmiths' 12494; Kress S.5021.