Economics & social sciences
Rare first editions, signed and inscribed copies, deluxe and collectible editions of books, pamphlets, and ephemera relating to the principal social sciences, incorporating economics, law, philosophy, politics, human geography, demographics, and sociology.
From the blog: Women's Work: Women in Economics, Politics and Philosophy
Video: SMITH, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments, 1759.
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SPIEGEL, Henry William. The Economics of Total War.New York : 1942
First edition, first printing, of Spiegel's study of the war upon the economy. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 146922
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LANDES, William M., & Richard A. Posner. The Economic Structure of Intellectual Property Law.Cambridge, MA : 2003
First edition, first printing; taking "a fresh look at the most dynamic area of American law today... This book demonstrates the fundamental economic rationality of intellectual property law, but is sympathetic to critics who believe that in recent decades Congress and the courts have done too far in the creation and protection of intellectual property... Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 146926
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SCHELLING, Thomas C. Micromotives and Macrobehavior.New York and London : 1978
First edition, first printing, of the Nobel Laureate's study of the cumulative effect of individual decisions on society, often cited in the literature of agent-based computational economics. Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 146902
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HICKS, John R. Value and Capital.Oxford : 1939
First edition, first impression, of the author's most significant book.
Though obscure to the public eye - an "economist's economist" (OED) - Hicks introduced many concepts that are still significant in economic theory. Value and Capital "taught a whole generation of economists to employ indifference curves and general equilibrium theory" (Blaug).... Learn More£475.00Stock Code: 146905
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ADAMS, John (signed) - MAYHEW, Jonathan. A Discourse, Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-Resistance to the Higher Powers;Boston : 1818
Presentation copy of a reprinted sermon in which Adams took personal interest, distributing a small number of copies on 16 November 1818, all inscribed in the same manner by a clerical hand to which Adams added his signature. This copy is presented to Mrs E. Cruft and signed by him. The recipient was Elizabeth Storer Smith (17891859), a cousin of Adams's... Learn More£22,500.00Stock Code: 146765
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SMITH, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.London : 1776
First edition, a handsome copy in contemporary calf gilt, with an interesting double provenance, first from the renowned library of Kirtlington Park, subsequently in the private collection of the Dillon family, an American financial dynasty. The first edition of the Wealth of Nations, "the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought" (PMM),... Learn More£195,000.00Stock Code: 144052
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PETTY, Sir William. Another Essay in Political Arithmetick, concerning the Growth of the City of London:London : 1683
First edition and very scarce on the market. Another Essay in Political Arithmetick was likely written in Ireland circa 1681, but was not sent to press until after Petty came to London in June 1682. "The title page implies that an Essay in Political Arithmetic had already been published, though in fact the present Essay was the first that was printed.... Learn More£11,000.00Stock Code: 134803
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BIRTLES, Bert. Exiles in the Aegean.London : 1938
The surprisingly uncommon first edition, first impression; from the library of the celebrated film critic Dilys Powell, with her pencilled signature on the front free endpaper. Bert Birtles was an Australian author and journalist and Exiles in the Aegean, his only book, "was admired for revealing the experiences of the communists exiled to the islands... Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 144783
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HAYEK, Friedrich August von. The Road to Serfdom.Chicago : 1944
First US edition, first printing, of Hayek's classic polemic against centralization and collectivism, among the most influential and popular expositions of classical liberalism and libertarianism ever published, and "far and away the most eloquent and straightforward statement of his political and economic outlook that Hayek ever achieved" (ODNB).
Though... Learn More£1,750.00Stock Code: 144691
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HAYEK, Friedrich August von. The London School of Economics, 1895-1945.London : 1946
Original offprint of Hayek's "brief sketch" of The London School of Economics, written to mark its fiftieth anniversary in October, 1945. "It had been hoped that this event would be marked by the publication of a full history of the School... but although some material had already been collected for this end, it has proved impossible during the war... Learn More£275.00Stock Code: 143577
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COX, Harold, & Ernest E. Williams. Free Trade v. Protection.London : February 1903
First edition in book form of this collection of articles originally published in Commercial Intelligence. Learn More£65.00Stock Code: 140985
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PUNJAB. The Board of Economic Enquiry, Punjab. Pamphlet No. 1.Lahore : 1936
First edition, rare, with no copies traced from an online search of institutional libraries. This rather vulnerable publication was clearly produced in very small numbers and was published in the wake of the Sterling Crisis of 1931, when Britain unilaterally abandoned the gold standard. In his preface, E. D. Lucas, acting secretary to the Board, writes,... Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 140922
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INDIA; Treaties. A Collection of Treaties, Engagements and SanadsCalcutta : 1931
Fifth iteration of this important collection of treaties and sanads or deeds granted to the rulers of princely states confirming them in their role, in return for their allegiance to Britain; inevitably scarce, the printer's code shows that 665 copies were printed. As a competition wallah Aitchison (1832-1896) went out to India in September 1856, narrowly... Learn More£350.00Stock Code: 140885
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SINATRA, Frank - KENNEDY, John F. Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: John F. Kennedy.Washington, DC : 1962-1963-1964
First editions, first printings. From the library of Frank Sinatra, his name in gilt to each front cover. An outstanding memorial to one of the most remarkable relationships in modern political history and the two men who stood at the nexus of glamour and power in mid-20th century America.
The relationship between the singer and JFK has been... Learn More£7,500.00Stock Code: 135154
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VEBLEN, Thorstein. Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution.London : 1939
Later edition, UK imprint, using the 1939 American sheets published by the Viking Press with a printed overslip covering the original imprint. Originally published shortly after the outbreak of the first World War, Veblen's fourth book aimed to account for why and how Germany had so successfully dominated the modern industrial market, basing his arguments... Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 133890
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CORNELL, William. Industrial Organization and Management.New York : 1928
First edition, first printing, covering the basic principles of business organisation and management. Learn More£45.00Stock Code: 129791
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COMBE, Joseph-André Brun de la. Nouveau Plan de Culture, de Finance et d'Économie...[Place and publisher not stated,] : 1790
First edition of Combe's proposals to the National Assembly to reform France's society and economy. The work offers an analysis of the present state of France and criticises Necker's policies, offering instead the author's own alternatives. Uncommon, with WorldCat listing 12 copies worldwide, with Library Hub adding the British Library copy. Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 129428
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LINGUET, Simon Nicolas Henri. Réponse aux Docteurs Modernes,[No place or publisher stated] : 1771
First edition of Linguet's attack on Montesquieu and his philosophe supporters, continuing the extensive critique offered by Linguet in his 1767 absolutist treatise Theorie des Lois Civiles. Simon Nicolas Henri Linguet (1736-1794) was a French journalist and lawyer "whose delight in taking views opposing everyone else's earned him exiles, imprisonment,... Learn More£850.00Stock Code: 129152
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GALIANI, Ferdinando. Correspondance.Paris : 1881
The second published collection of Galiani's collected correspondence, following the first published in 1818, with this edition including extensive new material. No other edition followed for another century. Galiani, a leading figure of the Italian enlightenment, was in correspondence with many of his French contemporaries, with his letters displaying... Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 127731
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BLANQUI, Jerome-Adolphe. Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers.Paris : 1837
First edition of this textbook of economics by Blanqui (1798-1854), "French labour economist, economic historian and first major historian of economic thought" (Palgrave). Learn More£575.00Stock Code: 127739
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BELLOT, P. F., and others. Annales de législation et d'économie politique.[Geneva : 1822]
First and only issue of this journal, a great rarity, with copies known only in Cambridge and in Geneva. The journal had grown out of the Annales de législation et de jurisprudence, which was published between 1820 and 1823 in Geneva. In the current journal, the editors aimed to expand their scope, and to provide recommendations and analysis for the... Learn More£1,500.00Stock Code: 127713
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HERBERT, Claude Jacques. Essai sur la police générale des grains.London : 1753
First edition of Herbert's work on the grain trade. McCulloch calls the work "in all respects, an excellent treatise; and may, indeed, be safely placed at the head of the works on commerce that had appeared in France, or anywhere else on the Continent, previously to the era of Quesnay and the Economists. It is clearly and ably written; and contains... Learn More£2,000.00Stock Code: 127715
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ÉPRÉMESNIL, Jaques Duval d'. Correspondance sur une question politique d'agriculture.Amsterdam & Paris : 1763
First edition of this printed correspondence between Épremesnil and Dupuy d'Emportes of the Academy of Florence, concerning agricultural issues. Épremesnil (1745-1794) later had an important role in pushing for the summoning of the Estates General, before defending the monarchy in the French Revolution, and subsequently being guillotined. The book... Learn More£450.00Stock Code: 127720
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SCHNEIDER, Erich. Investering Og Rente.Copenhagen : 1944
First edition, first printing, of this analysis of investment and interest. Erich Schneider (1900-1970), professor of economics at the University of Aarhus, had an important role in shaping German and Danish economics through his popular textbooks. Learn More£150.00Stock Code: 127686
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LINGUET, Simon Nicolas Henri. Essai Philosophique sur le Monachisme.Paris : 1775
One of two editions bearing a Paris imprint printed in 1775, without known priority, though the absence of a contents table in this edition, present in the other, implies this is the earlier. Simon Nicolas Henri Linguet (1736-1794) was a French journalist and lawyer "whose delight in taking views opposing everyone else's earned him exiles, imprisonment,... Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 127673
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CONSIDERANT, Victor. Exposition abrégée du système phalanstérien de Fourier.Paris : 1848
Third edition of this lecture given in Dijon in 1841 on Charles Fourier's sociological theories. Victor Considerant (1808-1893) was a disciple of Fourier and perhaps the most significant promoter of the theorist's ideas, dedicating great effort to popularise the ideology. He went on to found a socialist colony in Texas, which promptly failed. Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 127683
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BAUDEAU, Nicolas. Principes économiques de Louis XII et du Cardinal d'Amboise,[Paris]; Geneva : 1785
First editions of these two commentaries on Necker. The first upholds the two great finance ministers of France's past, Cardinal d'Amboise and the Duke of Sully, as superior to Necker in their financial administration, and as offering models for France's current financial predicaments. The second seeks to serve as a corrective to the arguments outlined... Learn More£2,750.00Stock Code: 127446
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BOESNIER DE L'ORME, Paul. Du rétablissement de l'impot dans son ordre naturel.Yverdon : 1769
First edition, large paper copy, of this scarce publication on tax reform by the French economist Paul Boesnier de l'Orme (1724-1793). WorldCat locates just eight copies (three in France, two in the UK, two in Switzerland, and one in the US at Columbia) of this title in institutions worldwide, with Library Hub adding one more at Sheffield University,... Learn More£6,500.00Stock Code: 126487
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MARX, Karl. Herr Vogt.London : 1860
First edition of the work which Marx took the best part of a year away from the writing of Capital to complete, bound first in a volume of two works, the other being the second edition of Marx's Der achtzehnte Brumaire des Louis Bonaparte (Hamburg: Otto Meissner, 1869).
Herr Vogt is an answer to the slanders against himself, Engels, and their... Learn More£12,500.00Stock Code: 126478
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KEYNES, John Maynard - WILLIAMS-ELLIS, Clough (ed.) Britain and the Beast.London : 1937
First edition, first impression. Various writers contributed to this volume of essays on the necessity of preserving rural England, of which the first is John Maynard Keynes, with his essay "Art and the State", originally published in 1936 in The Listener journal. Keynes was a strong supporter of state patronage of the arts, and would later be a leading... Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 124619
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RICARDO, David. Notes on Malthus' Principles of Political Economy.Baltimore : 1928
First edition, first printing, of Hollander's impressive and important contribution to Ricardian scholarship. "As a doctrinal historian Hollander is especially remembered for his discovery and editing of Ricardo's letters, and the latter's important Notes on Malthus" (The New Palgrave). Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 121021
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FRIEDMAN, Milton - GREAT BRITAIN: ROYAL COMMISSION. East Africa Royal Commission Report 1953-1955.London : 1955
First edition, from the library of Nobel Prize-winning American economist Milton Friedman. The commission's important examination of the economic development, living conditions, industrial activities, agricultural advances, and social issues across British East AfricaKenya, Uganda, and Tanganyika (now part of modern day Tanzania)was completed in two... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 119535
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McCULLOCH, John Ramsay. The Principles of Political Economy:Edinburgh : 1825
First edition of the author's first major work, expanded from his contribution to the 1824 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, "the first substantive text on political economy to appear in the encyclopaedia" (ODNB). David Ricardo, with whom McCulloch corresponded since he started taking an interest in political economy as a young man, described... Learn More£850.00Stock Code: 115421
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BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. The Book of Common Prayer.London : 1999
A handsome leather bound copy. Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 107166
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JONES, E. T. - VESTIEU, N. A. Nieuwe Methode van Boekhouden, zo wel Enkel als Dubbel;Amsterdam : 1801
First edition, very rare, of the Dutch translation of Edward Jones's 1796 English System of book-keeping. "Jones's Dutch translator and adapter, N. A. Vestieu, took as his illustrative material the transactions recorded in N. F. Förtsch's Instructie... over het Italiaans Boekhouden, Amsterdam, 1801. He reworked these transactions according to a modified... Learn More£2,500.00Stock Code: 105569
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AUBERT, J. P. Kort, dog duidelyk onderwys van't Italiaansch boekhouden …Amsterdam : 1782
Revised and enlarged fourth edition, first published in 1760, of this guide to Italian book-keeping, teaching the basic principles, with a section relating to book-keeping for ship owners. The work contains an innovation by Aubert, a "Convoy book", which lists goods under the name of the Captain and the ship. The work also contains real-life accounts... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 104912
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WIESER, Friedrich von. Social Economics.New York : 1927
First edition in English, first printing, predating the first UK edition by a year. One of the principal works of the Austrian economist Friedrich von Wieser (1851-1926), originally published in 1914 under the title Theorie der gesellschaftlichen Wirtschaft. Learn More£375.00Stock Code: 98281
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LUCAS, Charles. Appendice à la théorie de l'emprisonnement,Paris : 1838
First edition of the leading prison theorist and Inspector General's supplement to his influential work, De la réforme des prisons, published two years previously.
On the whole, Lucas's work in penal reform was received favourably by his contemporaries; his Du système pénal et du système répressif en général de la peine de mort en particulier... Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 91149
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TOCQUEVILLE, Alexis de, & Gustave de Beaumont. Système pénitentiaire aux États-Unis,Brussels : 1837
Third edition of this landmark report on prison reform, first published in 1833. Prompted by the dismal and ineffective state of France's penitentiary system in the 1820s, the French government commissioned Tocqueville and Beaumont - two friends, both young magistrates at the time - to complete a tour of America (which was then seen as leading the way... Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 91100
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LUCAS, Charles (intro.) Recueil des débats des Assemblées Législatives de la France sur la question de la peine de mort.Paris : 1831
First edition of this collection of reports on the subject of the death penalty given to the French National Assembly, including those delivered by Berenger and Lapelletier, among others, with an introduction and notes by the influential early French abolitionist and Inspector General of prisons Charles Lucas. Learn More£225.00Stock Code: 91118
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SEPTENNIAL ACT. A Second Letter to the Right Honourable Robert Walpole, Esq;London : 1716
First edition, defending the Septennial Act of 1716 - which increased the maximum length of a parliament from three to seven years - and attacking the Tory parliamentarians who opposed the bill for lying and exaggeration, four such speeches having recently been published. As with many anonymous political pamphlets, the tract has sometimes been attributed... Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 146799
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THATCHER, Margaret. Two typed letters signed, on the passage of the War Damage Act.19 February 1965
Two typed letters signed from Margaret Thatcher to her constituent Mr. A. N. Attwell of Oakleigh Park North, with his own copies of the correspondence, supporting with reservations the War Damage Act, then backtracking and opposing it, legislation which she was evidently conflicted by, clashing with her principles but saving the taxpayer much money.
The... Learn More£800.00Stock Code: 146804
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PIGOU, Arthur Cecil. The Political Economy of War.London : 1921
First edition, first impression, of Pigou's study of the impact of the war on the nation's economy, retaining the very scarce jacket. Learn More£500.00Stock Code: 146809
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VANSITTART, Robert Gilbert, Lord. The German Octopus.London : [1945]
First edition, first impression, of Vansittart's pamphlet advocating a draconian post-war policy towards Germany and the other Axis powers, supporting the permanent disarmament of the country and the punishment of German businesses. An interesting example of the hardline position towards Germany which many were advocating for, right to the top of the... Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 146829
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WHIGS. A True and Faithful account of the Last Distemper and Death of Tom. Whigg, Esq;London : 1710
First edition, the first part of a two-part satire on the fall of the Godolphin Whig ministry that year; "Tom Whigg" first loses his senses, then suffers the loss of two teeth (Sunderland and Godolphin), finally dies, and is regretted by no one. A contemporary annotator has identified certain figures.
This is the first part only of a two-part... Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 146785
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WHIGS. What has been, may be again: Or an Instance of London's Loyalty, in 1640, &c.London : 1710
First edition of this anti-Whig polemic, linking modern day Whiggish sentiments with the anti-monarchical sermons and plays preceding the English Civil War. A second part followed the same year. Learn More£75.00Stock Code: 146786
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TRAPP, Joseph. Most Faults on One Side:London : 1710
First edition, a response to Simon Clement's Faults on Both Sides, which had criticized both the Whigs and the Tories and had supported the formation of a non-partisan government, and which led to a flurry of counter pamphlets and engendering great controversy. The Tory Church of England clergyman and frequent pamphleteer Joseph Trapp (1679-1747) reacts... Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 146793
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BOYER, Abel. A Letter from a Foreign Minister in England to Monsieur Pettecum.London : 1710
First octavo edition. Despite the title, in fact an original work in English, presenting itself as a neutral observation on the fall of the Whig ministry to a European correspondent, in fact a defense of the change in ministry and praising Lord Harley.
The author, though formerly attributed to Robert Walpole (based on Horace Walpole's claims... Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 146794
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BOYER, Abel. An Essay Towards the History of the Last Ministry and Parliament:London : 1710
First edition. Authored by the lexicographer and journalist Abel Boyer (1667-1729) in the aftermath of the fall of the Whig government and establishment of the new Tory ministry, the pamphlet supports the new Harley regime and criticizes its Whig predecessor. Boyer, sympathetic to the Whigs but currying favour with the new ministry, hoped Harley would... Learn More£100.00Stock Code: 146796
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POLITICAL SATIRE. The History of the Rise and Fall of Count Hotspur, With that of his Brother-in-Law, Colonel Headstrong;London : 1717
First edition, a satire on contemporary politics presenting itself as an ancient manuscript, with very thinly veiled characters, here helpfully identified by a contemporary annotator in the margins: "Conrado the Second" as Charles II, "King Latinus the Second" as James II, "Prince Belgavino" as the Prince of Orange, "Hotspur" as Charles Townshend, "Colonel... Learn More£150.00Stock Code: 146798
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WALPOLE, Robert (subject). Some Persons Vindicated against the Author of the Defection,London : 1718
One of two editions, this of 40 pages, another of 28 pages. "Published 28 January 1718, a furious, but empty and generalising, reply to Tindal's The Defection Consider'd of December 1717, in which Tindal blamed Walpole and Townshend for 'defecting' for cynical motives, thereby creating a serious division in the Whig party. The present tract argues that... Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 146780
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TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD. A Letter from a Student in Oxford,London : 1709
A pamphlet detailing controversy at Trinity College, Oxford, involving feuding fellows and unjust expulsions, alongside a college servant running a brothel house; the acrimony and public divisions led to much gossip within the University. This is one of two editions of the same year, this of 20 pages, another of 16. ESTC locates copies in seven institutions.... Learn More£125.00Stock Code: 146783
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HERZOG, Chaim. Who Stands Accused?New York : 1978
First edition, first printing, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper "For Zygmunt Nagorski with all good wishes Chaim Herzog". The recipient Zygmunt Nagorski (1912-2011) was a Polish émigré who wrote widely about East-West relations during the Cold War and founded an organization that addressed ethics in international business, an appropriate... Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 146664
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CHESTERFIELD, Philip Dormer Stanhope, Earl of. The Speech of Senacherib Ragman, of St. Giles's in the Fields, Esq; to his Fellow Prisoners.London : 1738
First edition of the Earl of Chesterfield's political satire, directed against a Warden of a prison by the prisoners, the Warden presumably the prime minister Robert Walpole. A rarity, ESTC locates only 3 copies (BL, Huntington, University of Illinois). Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 146668
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GORDON, Thomas. Considerations Offered upon the Approaching Peace, And upon the Importance of Gibraltar to the British Empire,London : 1720
The stated fourth edition (although properly a reimpression of the second edition), of this pamphlet insisting on the need for Britain to retain Gibraltar in the ongoing peace negotiations with Spain, the cession of Gibraltar being a very real prospect in the negotiations, although in fact Britain would retain the territory in the Treaty of The Hague... Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 146669
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PAGE, Francis (subject). The charge of J---- P---- to the grand jury of M--x, on Saturday May 22. 1736.London : 1738
One of two editions, this of 16 pages, the other of eight, a satire on Judge Francis Page. "He has often been branded one of the most brutal judges of the Walpolean era, who with a reputation as 'the hanging judge' exemplified the worst excesses of the eighteenth-century judiciary" (ODNB). Page was satirized by Pope, Fielding, Hogarth, Dr Johnson and... Learn More£175.00Stock Code: 146670
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KONDRATIEV, Nikolai Dmitrievich. The Long Wave Cycle.New York : 1984
First complete edition in English, first printing, of Kondratiev's seminal thesis of long wave cycles, often referred to as the "Kondratiev wave", arguing that economic cycles are marked by forty to sixty year periods of alternating growth and decline, a thesis still of enduring influence in economic science, even if rejected by many economists.
Kondratiev... Learn More£750.00Stock Code: 146584
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RUSSELL, Bertrand. Common Sense and Nuclear Warfare.London : 1959
First edition, first impression, of Russell's attack on the Cold War nuclear stand-off, favouring no side, and proposing a path to denuclearization and peace. Learn More£50.00Stock Code: 146562
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CLARK, Colin. The Conditions of Economic Progress.London : 1940
First edition, first impression. The Conditions of Economic Progress (later revised in 1951 and extended in 1957) "argued that progress involves shifts from primary into secondary and tertiary sectors, and he quantified the size of the movement and its resulting changes in income and productivity through intensive empirical study. Clark was a master... Learn More£250.00Stock Code: 146568
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CLARK, Colin. National Income and Outlay.London : 1937
First edition, first impression. Clark's works on national income were landmarks in national accounting; his estimates were greatly relied on by Keynes. Learn More£200.00Stock Code: 146570
