Economics & Politics (all items)
First editions and rare books in the fields of classical economic theory, political economy, population studies, statistics, the stock market, banking, political theory, and political philosophy, including the works of Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes, T. R. Malthus, John Stuart Mill, and other major writers in these fields.
Browse the entire category below, or select a sub-category (left) to refine your browse.
We offer free shipping
SMITH, Adam.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. 1776
£97,500
First edition of "the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought" (PMM). In his Wealth of Nations, Smith "begins with the thought that labour is the source from which a...
2 volumes, quarto (272 × 220 mm). Contemporary quarter calf, rebacked to style, marbled boards, vellum tips. Custom leather-entry slipcase. Half-title only in... Read more
MACHIAVELLI, Niccolò.
Nicholas Machiavel's Prince. 1640
£37,500
First edition in English of Machiavelli's famous handbook for rulers (1513, published Rome 1532), dedicated to Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence from 1513. The Prince appears to...
Duodecimo (146 × 82 mm). Contemporary limp vellum, spine titled in old manuscript, upper portion of front cover repaired to style, recased and relined, lacks... Read more
CANTILLON, Richard.
Essai sur la nature du commerce en général. 1755
£35,000
First edition of the earliest and rarest single work on political economy. Richard Cantillon (c.1680–1734) was an Irish-born banker and economist, forced to emigrate to...
Duodecimo. Contemporary French mottled calf, spine with five raised bands, attractively gilt, morocco label, marbled endpapers. Skilful restoration to front joint at... Read more
CHURCHILL, Winston S.
Liberalism and the Social Problem. 1909
£15,000
First Edition, First Impression of this scarce title which collects speeches by the young Churchill during his Liberal phase. A truly rare book in dust jacket - indeed we know of no...
Octavo. Original red cloth, titles to spine gilt, author's signature in facsimile to upper board gilt. With the photographically illustrated dust jacket. Housed in a... Read more
EDEN, Sir Frederick Morton.
The State of the Poor: 1797
£10,000
First edition of this classic of social and economic analysis, the fruits of Eden's pioneering and privately-financed inquiry begun during the period of acute grain scarcity in...
3 volumes, quarto (268 × 213 mm). Early 19th-century tan calf, covers with single-line gilt rules, spines gilt in compartments, contrasting labels, date in gilt... Read more
![[Das Kapital, in Russian] Kapital. Kritika politicheskoi ekonomii.](/content/store/products/4000/2/5434.jpg)
MARX, Karl.
[Das Kapital, in Russian] Kapital. Kritika politicheskoi ekonomii. 1872
£10,000
First edition in Russian, the first foreign translation, of "the Bible of Marxism." This is the first translation to appear in any language, and the impact of it was greatest on the...
Octavo (236 × 153 mm). Contemporary Russian black half calf, blue pebble-grain cloth sides, spine with double gilt rules. Housed in a black quarter morocco... Read more
PLACE, Francis.
Illustrations and Proofs of the Principle of Population: 1822
£10,000
First edition of the foundation work of the modern birth-control movement, of great significance in economics, social history, and population theory. The book is rare on the market;...
Octavo (202 × 132 mm). Near-contemporary dark green watered (moiré) cloth, spine lettered in gilt. Cloth a little faded in the grain, occasional foxing and... Read more
SMITH, Adam.
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. 1784
£10,000
First octavo edition, third overall, first published in 1776. This uncommon edition contains several additions including a new chapter titled "The Conclusion of the Mercantile...
3 volumes, octavo. Contemporary French half vellum and marbled sides, volume numbers stamped in black to spines, contemporary hand-written initials to spines.... Read more
![[1] An inquiry into the nature and progress of rent, and the principles by which it is regulated.](/content/store/products/8384/2/9848.jpg)
MALTHUS, Thomas Robert.
[1] An inquiry into the nature and progress of rent, and the principles by which it is regulated. 1814
£8,750
First editions of five contemporary pamphlets, including three Malthus first editions. The marginal concept of rent, an essential factor in the development of political economy, and...
5 works bound together in one volume, octavo (208 x 127 mm). Contemporary sprinkled half calf, patterned paper sides, smooth spine with double gilt rules, dark green... Read more
[ISNARD, Achylle Nicolas]
Traité des Richesses, 1781
£8,750
First edition, scarce. "His book is remarkable for its mathematical treatment of production, capital, money and the theory of exchange" (Blaug). Although influenced by Physiocratic...
2 volumes, octavo (192 × 117 mm). Contemporary cat's-paw sheep, flat spines gilt in compartments, richly gilt with floral and foliage decorations, red morocco... Read more
ALLAIS, Maurice.
Économie & Intérêt; 1947
£8,500
First edition, presentation copy to his former pupil Gerard Debreu, inscribed by the author at the head of the first title, and with Debreu's ownership inscriptions to each front...
2 volumes, octavo. Original printed paper wrappers, neatly rebacked to style, small portion at head of first front wrapper renewed without affecting printed area.... Read more
MALTHUS, Thomas Robert.
Principles of Political Economy considered with a view to their practical application. 1820
£7,000
First edition. The book was conceived as a series of tracts rather than a comprehensive and systematic treatise, though Malthus published it to establish his own position against...
Octavo. Uncut and largely unopened in the original drab paper-backed blue boards, printed paper spine label. Housed in a brown cloth flat-back solander box. 8pp.... Read more
KING, Charles.
The British Merchant; 1721
£6,000
The British Merchant was a periodical published in 1713–14, at the end of the War of Spanish Succession, in opposition to proposed treaties to reduce the duties on French...
3 volumes, octavo (229 × 139 mm). Contemporary sprinkled calf, spines gilt in compartments, brown morocco labels, sides with double gilt rules, red sprinkled... Read more
![Convention Nationale. Opinion de Thomas Payne [sic],](/content/store/products/2828/2/4183.jpg)
PAINE, Thomas.
Convention Nationale. Opinion de Thomas Payne [sic], 1819
£5,000
First Editions of the first two listed works, rare in commerce. No copy of the first work appears in auction records since 1975 and only one copy of the second. The Rights of Man...
3 works bound together in one volume, pp. 8; 10; [ii], 196; the first two works small octavo (approx. 195 × 122 mm), the third, with uncut edges, taller octavo... Read more
VON NEUMANN, John, & Oskar Morgenstern.
Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. 1944
£4,750
First edition, first printing, of the groundbreaking text that created the interdisciplinary research field of game theory.
Octavo. Original oatmeal cloth, spine lettered in gilt on a dark red panel, pale red top-stain. With the printed dust jacket. List of corrigenda printed on thin paper... Read more
ROOSEVELT, Franklin D.
Inaugural address of Franklin D. Roosevelt President of the United States. 1933
£4,750
The advance issue, first published version of FDR's inaugural address, annotated in pencil on the upper cover as one of the White House file copies, with the signature of Stephen T....
Octavo. Wire-stitched in the original wraps. In quarter dark blue cloth on patterned paper portfolio, typed label to upper panel, black silk ties. Rockwell Kent... Read more
DEFOE, Daniel.
Essays upon Several Subjects: or, Effectual Ways for advancing the Interest of the Nation. 1702
£4,500
First edition, third issue. First published in 1697 as An Essay upon Projects, this is a re-issue of the edition printed for Thomas Ballard, 1702. Except for the title pages, the...
Octavo (181 × 113 mm). Contemporary unlettered sheep, double blind rules, inner borders with a curved dotted roll in blind, red sprinkled edges. Rubbed, spine... Read more
MOTT, A[bigail].
Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Colour. 1826
£4,500
First English edition, which omits the poetry included in American editions, a note verso of the final contents leaf reads; "In the present edition, one or two of the narratives have...
Octavo (176 × 103 mm) contemporary maroon half skiver on marbled boards, gilt double-ruled compartments to the spine. Contemporary ownership inscription of John... Read more
WEBSTER, Daniel.
The Writings and Speeches ... 1903
£3,750
National Edition, limited to 1050 copies only, of which this is no. 987. A lavish edition preserving the legacy of Daniel Webster (1782–1852), U.S. Senator and Secretary of...
18 volumes, large octavo (240 × 157 mm). Bound in recent blue morocco, spines lettered gilt in two compartments, others with gilt motifs between gilt bands,... Read more
DEFOE, Daniel.
The Complete English Tradesman, in Familiar Letters; 1726
£3,750
Likely first edition, though the work is bibliographically complex. Moore gives its history as follows: It was first published in 1725 with ten numbered sections, but within several...
Octavo (197 × 120 mm). Contemporary panelled calf, neatly rebacked to style, red sprinkled edges. Small spot of dampstain to the upper margin of a few leaves,... Read more
VEBLEN, Thorstein.
The Theory of the Leisure Class. 1899
£3,750
First edition of the Norwegian-American professor's first published book, his most successful work. Veblen's thesis was a serious economic analysis of contemporary America, but after...
Octavo. Original dark-green vertical grain cloth, spine lettered gilt and gilt bands at head and foot, covers with four blind rules at head and three blind rules at... Read more
ROOSEVELT, Theodore.
The Works. 1926
£3,500
National Edition. The writings of the 26th President of the United States on outdoor life, ranching, history, politics and war, with an autobiography in volume twenty.
20 volumes, octavo. Recent full tan morocco, red and green labels, titles and decoration to spines gilt, raised bands, marbled boards, top edges gilt, others... Read more
MONTESQUIEU, Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de.
The Complete Works. 1777
£3,500
First collected edition in English.
4 volumes, octavo (210 × 128 mm). Contemporary red straight grain morocco prize-binding, spines gilt in compartments, arms of Trinity College Cambridge gilt to... Read more
![New Ideas on Population: with remarks on the theories of Malthus and Godwin; [bound with:] Nouvelles idées sur la population,](/content/store/products/5145/2/6692.jpg)
EVERETT, Alexander H.
New Ideas on Population: with remarks on the theories of Malthus and Godwin; [bound with:] Nouvelles idées sur la population, 1823 & 1826
£3,500
First edition and first French edition respectively of the major early American response to Malthus, presentation copy to the author's brother Edward Everett (1794-1865) on the...
Two works bound in one volume, octavo (199 × 124 mm). Contemporary calf, rebacked, maroon morocco label. Bookplate of Edward Everett to front pastedown. Board... Read more
CHURCHILL, Winston S.
Autograph letter signed to Philip Morrell, concerning the National Land and Housing Demonstration, 1907. 1907
£3,250
Churchill writes to Morrell, MP for South Oxfordshire, philandering husband of Lady Ottoline Morrell, and in this context chairman of the executive of the National Land and Housing...
2 pages, 203 × 126 mm. Dated 22 Ap[ril] 1907, written recto and verso of the first leaf of a bifolium of Colonial Office stationery, embossed crest at the head.... Read more
