A Treatise On Money. In Two Volumes.

KEYNES, John Maynard [J.M.].

Item Number: 146081

London: MacMillan & Company, 1930.

First editions of each volume of Keynes’ classic work. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in five compartments within raised bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt ruled inner dentelles stamp-signed by the Harcourt Bindery, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. An exceptional presentation.

"In 1930, Keynes brought out his heavy, two-volume Treatise on Money, which effectively set out his Wicksellian theory of the credit cycle. In it, the rudiments of a liquidity preference theory of interest are laid out and Keynes believed it would be his magnum opus[however, criticism was swift and extreme] and the Treatise led to the formation of a reading group, known as ‘the circus,’ composed of young Cambridge economists Richard Kahn and others Kahn dutifully delivered reports of the Circus’s discussions to Keynes, who subsequently began revising his ideas. One resulting criticism of the Treatise was that it failed to provide a theory of the determination of output and employment as a whole— a particular pertinent question given the huge amount of unemployment at the time" (History of Economic Thought).