SMITH, Adam (1723-90). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, London: W. Strahan, 1776, 2 volumes, 4° (277 x 220mm.), FIRST EDITION, with half title to volume II (title and last leaf in vol. I spotted, occasional spotting of margins, vol. I without final blank, YY1 of vol. II slightly creased), bound with -- Additions and Corrections to the First and Second Editions of Adam Smith's Inquiry ...," [drop-head title] [1784], 4°, FIRST EDITION, contemporary tree calf, sides with single gilt fillet border, flat-backed gilt-tooled spines with red and green morocco lettering-pieces (rebacked and recornered, covers slightly flaked). [Jessop (S), p. 171; Kress 7261; PMM 221; Rothschild 1897-99]

Details

SMITH, Adam (1723-90). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, London: W. Strahan, 1776, 2 volumes, 4° (277 x 220mm.), FIRST EDITION, with half title to volume II (title and last leaf in vol. I spotted, occasional spotting of margins, vol. I without final blank, YY1 of vol. II slightly creased), bound with -- Additions and Corrections to the First and Second Editions of Adam Smith's Inquiry ...," [drop-head title] [1784], 4°, FIRST EDITION, contemporary tree calf, sides with single gilt fillet border, flat-backed gilt-tooled spines with red and green morocco lettering-pieces (rebacked and recornered, covers slightly flaked). [Jessop (S), p. 171; Kress 7261; PMM 221; Rothschild 1897-99]

Provenance

Eighteenth-century bookplate of John Edwards of Ness Strange, Salop; Revd. G. Martin, 19th-century signature on front blank.

Lot Essay

"Where the political aspects of human rights had taken two centuries to explore, Smith's achievment was to bring the study of economic aspects to the same point in a single work. The Wealth of Nations is not a system, but as a provisional analysis it is completely 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]

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