Books

Contemporary armorial calf, spine gilt, red morocco label. A few small spots. Fine. First edition of the book that is, "more emphatically than any other single work, the cradle of political economy" (Jevons). Published posthumously, Cantillon's Essay on the Nature of Trade in General was cited by Adam Smith, Condillac, Quesnay, Harris, Postlethwayt, and many others. It is "the most systematic treatment on economic principles before the Wealth of Nations" (Roll), and Cantillon is the "founding father of modern economics" (Rothbard). Born in Ireland, Cantillon was active in banking in Paris for years. A man among boys in business, he made a fortune from John Law's scheme. "Bankers fell like autumn leaves in Paris between 1717 and 1720, and as Higgs remarks, 'Their losses were probably very heavy in 1720 and much of them went into Cantillon's pocket'" (New Palgrave). He successfully defended himself in numerous lawsuits brought by victims of the Mississippi Bubble, but he…