Books

First edition of Townsend's examination of the society, politics, and political economy of Spain. The Journey stands as Townsend's best-known work, an encyclopaedic study of late 18th-century Spain, and a sophisticated example of pre-Malthusian political economy. The route of Joseph Townsend (1739-1816), churchman, writer, and geologist, took him via Paris to Barcelona, Madrid, Oviedo, Seville, Granada, and Valencia. The three volumes of the Journey provide detailed treatments of the history, politics, and cultures which he encountered. Although a clergyman by profession, Townsend was also an accomplished political economist. His 1786 tract against the Poor Laws articulated sophisticated concepts of what would come to be called natural selection and is often cited, as by J. R. McCulloch, as a key influence on Malthus: "Townsend's ideas were not so much a foreshadowing of Malthus's theory as the theory itself" (quoted in ODNB). In the Journey, Townsend applied his understanding of political economy to the case study of late 18th-century Spain. The result was a perceptive analysis of Spain's comparative decline and stagnation as a civilized society. Townsend was, in this work, the first writer to refer to "principles" of population (Lepenies, p. 433). Travelling from Granada to Carthagena, Townsend writes that "Looking down upon so rich, yet such a contracted spot, we instantly and evidently see that the human race, however at first, and whilst their First edition of Townsend's examination of the society, politics, and political economy of Spain. The Journey stands as Townsend's best-known work, an encyclopaedic study of late 18th-century Spain, and a sophisticated example of pre-Malthusian political economy. The route of Joseph Townsend (1739-1816), churchman, writer, and geologist, took him via Paris to Barcelona, Madrid, Oviedo, Seville, Granada, and Valencia. The three volumes of the Journey provide detailed treatments of the history, politics, and cultures which he encountered. Although a clergyman by profession, Townsend was also an accomplished political economist. His 1786 tract against the Poor Laws articulated sophisticated concepts of what would come to be called natural selection and is often cited, as by J. R. McCulloch, as a key influence on Malthus: "Townsend's ideas were not so much a foreshadowing of Malthus's theory as the theory itself" (quoted in ODNB). In the Journey, Townsend applied his understanding of political economy to the case study of late 18th-century Spain. The result was a perceptive analysis of Spain's comparative decline and stagnation as a civilized society. Townsend was, in this work, the first writer to refer to "principles" of population (Lepenies, p. 433). Travelling from Granada to Carthagena, Townsend writes that "Looking down upon so rich, yet such a contracted spot, we instantly and evidently see that the human race, however at first, and whilst their numbers are limited, they may rejoice in affluence, will go on constantly increasing, till they balance their quantity of food" (vol. 2, p. 107). In Lepenies's analysis, this is precisely the same principle that Malthus would subsequently propose in the Essay on the Principle of Population (1798). In the words of McCulloch, Journey is "one of the best works of the kind that has ever appeared" (McCulloch, p. 215). READ MORE Three vols, octavo, pp. vii, [1], 402, [6]; iv, 414, [10]; iv, 356, [12]. Original grey boards, spines lettered in manuscript, edges uncut. With 7 engraved plates, tables and wood-engraved diagram in the text. Brief pencil sidelining throughout. Very slight wear to tips and a few marks to covers, sporadic foxing to contents, else a very well-preserved copy. ESTC T73276. Philipp H. Lepenies, "Of goats and dogs: Joseph Townsend and the idealisation of markets—a decisive episode in the history of economics", Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol. 38, no. 2, Mar. 2014; J. R. McCulloch, The literature of political

An account of Joseph Townsend's travels in Spain, providing both personal observations and reflections on Spanish society.