Books

Second edition of Walras's Eléments d'économie politique pure, the author's own annotated copy with pencil markings and marginalia to over 60 pages, a small piece of exercise book paper marked "annoté de la main de mon père" in Aline Walras's hand loosely inserted. "This edition contains an introductory chapter, 'Des fonctions et de leur représentation géométrique. Théorie mathématique de la chute des corps,' 3-21, which does not appear in subsequent editions." (Walker). In 1874, three years after Jevons and Menger but independently of them, Walras enunciated the theory of marginal utility in his Eléments d'économie politique pure. In this book he continued and refined the work inherited from his father and was successful in developing the law of general equilibrium that made him famous. The work falls into two parts: one dealing with the theory of exchange (pp. 1-208), the other (pp. 209-377) with the theory of production. "The book regards exchange as the central economic phenomenon and treats all other branches of economic study in relation to this central fact" (Batson). Walras operates with essentially the same concepts as Jevons, but he searches continuously for solutions of the most general character. Like Jevons and Menger, he bases exchange-value on utility and limitation of quantity. Following his father, he uses the term rareté, which he defines as the "dérivée de l'utilité effective par rapport à la quantité possédée". In other Second edition of Walras's Eléments d'économie politique pure, the author's own annotated copy with pencil markings and marginalia to over 60 pages, a small piece of exercise book paper marked "annoté de la main de mon père" in Aline Walras's hand loosely inserted. "This edition contains an introductory chapter, 'Des fonctions et de leur représentation géométrique. Théorie mathématique de la chute des corps,' 3-21, which does not appear in subsequent editions." (Walker). In 1874, three years after Jevons and Menger but independently of them, Walras enunciated the theory of marginal utility in his Eléments d'économie politique pure. In this book he continued and refined the work inherited from his father and was successful in developing the law of general equilibrium that made him famous. The work falls into two parts: one dealing with the theory of exchange (pp. 1-208), the other (pp. 209-377) with the theory of production. "The book regards exchange as the central economic phenomenon and treats all other branches of economic study in relation to this central fact" (Batson). Walras operates with essentially the same concepts as Jevons, but he searches continuously for solutions of the most general character. Like Jevons and Menger, he bases exchange-value on utility and limitation of quantity. Following his father, he uses the term rareté, which he defines as the "dérivée de l'utilité effective par rapport à la quantité possédée". In other words, rareté is the same as marginal utility. The desire to equalize marginal utilities (according to Gossen's second law) will lead to exchange, and this desire, together with the stocks of goods possessed by each individual, will give a determinate demand or supply for each individual. This can be represented by a functional equation or by a curve. Walras was influenced by Cournot and it was probably this influence which enabled him to combine a utility theory of value with a mathematically precise theory of market equilibrium. In spite, or because, of the difficulties which he experienced in this task, Walras was increasingly led to enunciate a general, non-utilitarian theory of economic equilibrium, expressed in terms of functional equations. He is, therefore, essentially the economist's economist, rather than of the general reader or the politician. READ MORE Octavo (209 x 136 mm). Contemporary red quarter roan and marbled boards, spine ruled and lettered gilt With six folding plates of figures. Joints and extremities lightly rubbed; a very good copy Batson, p. 34; Cossa 279 (171); Einaudi 5965; Mattioli 3796; Walker 176.

Éléments d'économie politique pure is one of Léon Walras' most significant works, serving as a foundational text in the field of economics, particularly known for its presentation of the concept of general equilibrium.