James Steuart | An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Oeconomy, London, 1767, 2 vol, contemporary calf

James Steuart

An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Oeconomy: Being an Essay on the Science of Domestic Policy in Free Nations. London: For A. Millar and T. Cadell, 1767

FIRST EDITION, 2 volumes, 4to (290 x 227mm.), 2 folding tables (one in each volume), errata leaf at end of volume 2 (errata for volume one printed on the verso of the final leaf of the Preface), contemporary calf, spine decorated in gilt, sprinkled edges, vol.1 front free endpaper detached, vol.2 p.609 minor loss at foot, very occasional light spotting, final free endpapers and final blanks browned at margins, bindings rubbed at extremities, corners bumped, hinges and joints weak

Steuart's Inquiry anticipated Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations, which appeared nine years later. "The first English work which had any pretensions to be considered as a systematic or complete view of the subject" (J.R. McCulloch, Literature of Political Economy).

LITERATURE:

ESTC N797; Goldsmiths 10276; Kress 6498