Books

Third edition; 2 vols; 8vo (22 x 14 cm); half-titles, library stamp to front free endpaper recto of each vol., occasional light spotting, some offsetting to endpapers; contemporary sprinkled calf, flat spines gilt, contrasting red morocco title-pieces, sprinkled edges, very good; xvi, 505, [61]; vii, [1], 559, [1]pp. The first two-volume edition of Malthus' Essay on the Principle of Population, with important additions and corrections by the author, including his response to critics. 'The central idea of the essay and the hub of Malthusian theory was a simple one. The population of a community, Malthus, suggested, increases geometrically, while food supplies increased only arithmetically. If the natural increase in population occurs, the food supply becomes insufficient and the size of the population is checked by 'misery' that is, the poorest sections of the community suffer disease and famine. The Essay was highly influential in the progress of thought in early nineteenth-century Europe' (PMM). The work has remained controversial since its first publication: Samuel Taylor Coleridge referred to 'the stupid Ignorance of the Man', whilst Robert Southey described Malthus as that 'mischievous booby'. However, the principle of population is now accepted as a central tenet of classical political economy, and Charles Darwin acknowledged Malthus' influence in the development of his theory of natural selection (ODNB).

The book addresses the relationship between population growth and food supply. Malthus argued that population tends to grow exponentially, while food production increases only arithmetically, meaning that population growth would eventually outpace the ability to produce enough food. He suggested that without checks, such as famine, disease, or war, overpopulation would lead to widespread poverty and suffering. Malthus identified two types of checks on population growth: "positive checks," which raise the death rate (such as famine and disease), and "preventive checks," which reduce the birth rate (such as moral restraint, later marriage, or celibacy). He believed that without preventive measures, human misery was inevitable. Malthus’s work had a lasting influence on economic and demographic theories, and his ideas about population pressure also influenced Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Although some of his predictions were mitigated by technological advances in agriculture, his work remains important in discussions of overpopulation and resource sustainability.