Books

2 volumes, 8vo., [xviii, 363pp.] + [viii, 424pp.], occasional light spotting to blank endpapers only (as is common with most copies), original cloth spines lettered and ruled in gilt. A generally VG+ clean set of Keynes first major contribution to the development of modern monetary theory. The first of Keynes's two main contributions to economic theory and his most comprehensive work on monetary theory. A Treatise on Money, completed in 1930, was the outcome of six years of intensive work and argument with D.H.Robertson, R.G.Hawtrey and others. As in the Tract on Monetary Reform the central concerns of the Treatise are the causes and consequences of changes in the value of money and the means of controlling such changes to increase well-being. The analysis is, however, considerably more complex and the applied statistical work much more elaborate. The Treatise has long been of interest amongst economists, as a precursor of the General Theory, as an important discussion of the mechanics of inflationary and deflationary processes and as an important statement of the problems of national autonomy in the international economy. A Treatise on Money anticipated many of the ideas set forth in the General Theory, but differed from the latter in important aspects of its focus, paying closer attention to the theory of price levels rather than levels of output and employment.