Books

First American edition of this cornerstone text of modern economics. Octavo, 2 volumes, bound in contemporary calf, rebacked, red and black morocco spine labels, gilt titles. Previous owner� s inscription to front free endpaper, � An application was made to Bishop Watson to answer this book on the grounds that it discouraged benevolence. He declined, excusing himself, however unfavorably saying that he saw its object was to prove that population could not increase beyond the level of rules of self-evident truth. A much better employment would have been to discover means of resistance that might supply the increasing wants of the population.� Bishop Richard Watson served as the Bishop of Llandaff from 1782 to 1816 and published a number of political pamphlets contributing to the Revolution Controversy regarding the fundamental politics of the French Revolution. Watson corresponded with and published several counterarguments to the works of Thomas Paine and Thomas Robert Malthus among others. In very good condition with some browning to the text as usual, sporadic foxing. Rare and desirable. � Malthus was one of the founders of modern economics. His Essay was originally the product of a discussion on the perfectibility of society with his father, [who] urged him to publish. Thus the first edition (published anonymously) was essentially a fighting tract, but later editions were considerably altered and grew bulkier as Malthus defended his views against a host of critics� � The Essay was highly influential in the progress of thought in early 19th-century Europe [and] his influence on social policy was considerable� � Both Darwin and Wallace clearly acknowledged Malthus as a source of the idea of � the struggle for existence� (PMM 251).

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.