Books

Fourth edition of Malthus's Essay, first published in 1798, one of the most important and influential works in the history of economic thought, and the foundation text of modern demography. The second volume is appended with the first edition of Frederick Morton Eden's An Estimate of the Number of Inhabitants in Great Britain, an appropriate pairing by the contemporary owner - Eden's population census preceded the first national decennial population census by a year, but undershot the official figure by five million. It nonetheless marks, like Malthus's Essay, an important milestone in the study of population. Two works bound in two vols, octavo (210 x 128 mm). Contemporary sprinkled calf, orange and dark green morocco labels, gilt in compartments, gilt roll border to covers, blind serrated turn-ins, marbled endpapers, brown speckled edges. Bound without half-titles. Contemporary ownership signature of Thomas Entwisle to title pages, later small ink notation to front free endpapers versos. Minor patch of abrasion to rear cover of vol. I, joints just beginning to split but holding firm, light browning to Eden else contents fresh. An excellent copy.

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.