Books

Light spotting to prelims. Later 19thC half black calf by John C. Condie, Paisley, compartments ruled & dec. in gilt, maroon morocco labels, decorated green glazed cloth boards. An exceptional copy. The definitive text, and the last published in Malthus's lifetime, with his final revisions, marking a significantly expanded and amended text from the first edition of 1798.

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.