Books

First edition of Say's first publication, a utopia which set out a model for France in the aftermath of the Revolution. Say wrote the response for a competition organized by the Acad�mie des sciences morales et politiques. "In Olbie Say squarely confronted the question of how to establish a stable republic and especially how to establish the citizen virtues necessary for a stable republic. His answer is something of a combination of Adam Smith and Jean-Jacques Rousseau and involves remaking society from the ground up, without coercion. He recommends a free economy, the practice of industry and frugality, a widely-shared prosperity, a virtuous and exemplary elite, popular enlightenment, and an understanding of human happiness that revolves around moderation and a stable family life" (Trepanier, p. 111). Say proposed a new economic order which would lead to a well-ordered share in the general wealth, rather than either the vast inequality of the ancien r�gime, or the destructiveness of the Terror. This greater equality would be effected in part by free market economics, an economic basis notably not shown in most of the utopias and dystopias of the following two centuries. Einaudi 5117; not in Goldsmiths'; INED 4109; Kress B 4266. Lee Trepanier, The Free Market and the Human Condition, 2014. Octavo, pp. xii, 132. Uncut in original wrappers. Light wear to wrappers, contents spotted, still a very well-preserved copy.