Books

The first US appearance of Marx's groundbreaking work. This edition is a reissue in one volume of the first UK edition, by Swan Sonnenschein in 1887. It uses UK sheets with an Appleton title page. It almost certainly beats the Humboldt edition to the US market. That edition was released in parts in late 1890 (and in early 1891), and we assume the book version was produced around the same time (it does not have a dated title page). A Near Fine copy of the book. A small repair to the cloth at the crown and the front inner hinge repaired. Some mottling to the cloth. Internal contents are generally clean and fresh. Bookplate of Stephen A. Tyler (former Rice University Professor) on the front paste-down. A handsome copy overall. One of the most profound and influential thinkers of any age, Marx is known not only for championing socialism, but also for developing the social sciences, and his important work in economics and political philosophy. Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production, originally published in German as Das Kapital, is Karl Marx's magnum opus and "one of the most consequential books in history" (Princeton). Written at the height of the industrial revolution while Marx lived in exile in the UK, the book is the culmination of his economic theory and a polemic against the evils of capitalism. Originally planned to be three volumes, only one volume was published during his lifetime, with the final two finished posthumously by Engles based on Marx's notes. This English version was translated by Samuel Moore (who also translated The Communist Manifesto) and Edward Aveling (the partner of Marx's youngest daughter, Eleanor). The text expresses Marx's historic materialism approach: more than just a theoretic or economic model, he looks at the historic record and the social circumstances that have led modern societies to embrace this economic system. Informed by Hegel's dialectics and materialism, Marx adopted a "natural history" method to demonstrate how societies develop economic classes as they attempt to structure themselves around certain types of labor. Capital argues that capitalism is driven by the exploitation of labor at the hands of the owners of the means of production. The capitalist's chronic desire to increase "value" results in an untenable system headed towards inevitable collapse. An incredibly influential book— "one that inspired revolutions— "whose impact is still felt today. Near Fine.