On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures.

BABBAGE, Charles.

$22,500.00

Item Number: 133831

London: Charles Knight & Company, 1832.

First edition, large paper edition, one of 3000 examples of Babbage’s hugely influential work on operations research. Octavo, original cloth. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, “For the Rev. Ch. Currie from the author.” In very good condition, rebacked with the original spine, embossed stamp of Unitarian College to the dedication page. Exceptionally rare and desirable signed and inscribed.

Babbage's On the Economy of Machinery and Manufacturers was the first book on operations research, discussing topics like the regulation of power, control of raw materials, division of labor, times studies, the advantage of size in manufacturing, inventory control, and duration and replacement of machinery. On pages 166 and 167 Babbage analyzed the production of his book as an example of the cost of each step in a particular production process. The work was Babbage’s most complete and professional piece of writing, and the only one of his books that went through four editions in his lifetime” (OOC). With this publication, Babbage established himself as an expert in political economy, the work influencing both John Stuart Mill and Karl Marx.