An Essay on the Principle of Population, as It Affects the Future Improvement of Society.

MALTHUS, Thomas Robert [T.R.].

$7,500.00

Item Number: 143843

London: T. Bensley, 1803.

Rare second edition of this cornerstone text of modern economics. Quarto, bound in full diced morocco, raised bands, gilt titles and tooling to the spine, front and rear panels, marbled endpapers. In very good condition. An exceptional presentation.

“Malthus was one of the founders of modern economics. His Essay was originally the product of a discussion on the perfectibility of society with his father, [who] urged him to publish. Thus the first edition (published anonymously) was essentially a fighting tract, but later editions were considerably altered and grew bulkier as Malthus defended his views against a host of critics… The Essay was highly influential in the progress of thought in early 19th-century Europe [and] his influence on social policy was considerable… Both Darwin and Wallace clearly acknowledged Malthus as a source of the idea of ‘the struggle for existence” (PMM 251).