Books

The important and heavily revised second edition of Thomas Robert Malthus's discussion of the problems of a growing human population. First published in 1798, this is the substantially revised, enlarged, and rewritten second edition of Malthus's important work. Malthus's work - which posits that the human population will outgrow the supply of food and resources - fueled the debate on the size of the British population, and contributed to the passage of the Census Act of 1800. A key argument within the book was dedicated to what is now known as the Malthusian Law of Population, theorizing that growing population rates will lead to a rising supply of labor, inevitably lowering wages and leading to poverty. With the armorial bookplate of James Frampton to the front pastedown, alongside the former owner's ink inscription of N.B. Hobbs. Hobbs's inscription is also present on the recto of a front blank. This second edition incorporated details of population controls that had been used in various countries and periods. In a contemporary calf binding, with light rubbing to boards. Minor loss to tail of spine label. Hinges neatly repaired. Retaining the original endpapers. Bookplate and inscription on the front pastedown, with further inscription on a front blank. Internally, firmly bound. Significant spotting on endpapers and on first and final leaves. Pages bright, with scattered further areas of concentrated spotting throughout. Very Good.

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.