Ricardo, David.

8vo, first edition, without the advertisements at the end, contemporary note in ink quoting from Lord Brougham's review of this work on front endpaper, presentation copy, inscribed "From the author" (probably by the publisher John Murray or someone in Murray's office) on the title page, contemporary polished calf, spine in six compartments gilt, foxed, upper hinge starting, backstrip on spine torn, some wear to edges of binding

Kress B7029; Goldsmiths 21734; PMM 277

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
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A very rare presentation copy of the first edition of Ricardo's chief contribution to economic science. It was customary for the publisher John Murray to send out a small number of inscribed presentation copies to a select group of recipients (the one in the present case being unknown). These were often chosen, or jointly chosen, by the author himself.

The thirty-one chapters address the "principal problem in Political Economy" defined as the determination of the laws which regulate "the natural course of rent, profit, and wages" over time. It also outlines a newly-developed labour theory of value, a theory of international competitive advantage, monetary theory and the effect of taxation. Remarkably, the book was the result of little more than six or seven months' active work, having to contend with the author's "hectic social life, recurring bouts of lethargy and defeatism, a 'temptation of being out in the air in fine weather', business interests, and the demands of a large family" (Terry Peach, Oxford DNB).