Discover <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/history-travel-exploration?Book%20Special%20Feature=First%2520Edition" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First Editions</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/history-travel-exploration?Book%20Subject=Maps%2520and%2520Atlases" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Maps &amp; Atlases</a>, and subjects like <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/history-travel-exploration?Book%20Subject=American%2520History" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">American History</a>. Browse historic figures like <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/history-travel-exploration?creators=Winston%2520Churchill" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Winston Churchill</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/history-travel-exploration?creators=Karl%2520Marx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Karl Marx</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/history-travel-exploration?creators=Adam%2520Smith" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Adam Smith</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?creators=JOHN%2520F.%2520KENNEDY&amp;query=JOHN%20F.%20KENNEDY&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en&amp;filters.type=Buy%20Now" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">John F. Kennedy</a>, <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?creators=Captain%2520James%2520Cook" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Captain James Cook</a> and <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Abraham%20Lincoln&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en&amp;filters.type=Buy%20Now" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lincoln</a>.

History

Maps & Atlases

Travel & Exploration

Specialist Selections

Americana

Manuscripts, Documents, Letters, Ephemera

History, Travel, Exploration

Adam Smith

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Fine%2520bindings" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">finely bound</a> second edition of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=The+Wealth+of+Nations&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Wealth of Nations</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Adam+Smith&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Adam Smith</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Adam Smith (Scottish).</li><li>London: Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, 1778.</li><li>Part of an edition of 500.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>viii, 510; [viii], 589, [1] pages.</li><li>Half title to volume II as issued.</li><li>Bound in contemporary tree calf, contrasting Morocco lettering pieces and volume labels to spine.</li></ul> The scarce second edition of Adam Smith's masterpiece, the 'first and greatest classic of modern economic thought.' Smith spent ten years writing and perfecting The Wealth of Nations, the popularity of which surpassed even its publisher's expectations upon release and soon led to the preparation and publication of this second edition. Only 500 copies were printed, and this edition was the last to be issued in an expensive quarto format, priced at £2 2s. As the title explains, the work is fundamentally an investigation into what makes certain nations prosperous. Smith's originality lies in locating the roots of this comparative wealth in the specialization of labor which had occurred in developed economies, for the 'annual labor of every nation is the fund which originally supplies it with all the necessaries and conveniences of life which it annually consumes, and which consist always, either in the immediate produce of that labor, or in what is purchased with that produce from other nations.'

History, Travel, Exploration

History, Travel, Exploration

Filters

Way to Buy

Book Type

Author

Price

Book Subject

Book Language

Era

Materials

Color

Region of Origin

Country of Origin

Item Location

Available for International Shipping

Adam Smith