Books

3 vols, 8vo, pp. xvi, 496; iv, 506, [1]; iv, 500, [2, advertisements]; extremities dusty, a few leaves of vol. III rather foxed, front free endpaper of vol. I loose, still a good copy and a pleasing set in contemporary green half cloth and marbled boards, slightly rubbed, corners bumped, spine gilt, chipped at head of vol. II; lower joint of vol. I cracked but holding firm; sprinkled edges; bookplates and shelfmark label of William John Matheson.Fifth edition, 'with important additions'. This is a significant edition, containing the new chapters that had appeared in the Additions of the same year. These included those on the Poor Laws, which were revised after 1815, and the harsh but prescient critique of Robert Owen's utopian community at New Lanark. It also adds an appendix in which Malthus takes on his detractors and revisits his influences; Godwin remains 'irresistible' while Mandeville is 'refuted utterly'. Goldsmiths' 21761; Einaudi 3670.

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.