Wealth of Nations – Adam Smith – 1812 | Foundational Economics, 3v Set

A rare, early 1812 edition of the famous Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. Wealth of Nations was one of the world’s first collected descriptions of what builds a nations’ economy, wealth, and capitalism. Smith begins this landmark work by stating that the source of a nation’s wealth comes from the labor of the people. Throughout the rest of the work, Smith shows how productivity and financial exchanges are the root of a working economy.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
• Author(s): Adam Smith
• Publisher: London, printed for Cadell and Davies
• Edition: New edition, 1812.
• Format: (8vo), three volumes
• Binding: Leather spine, hardcover boards
• Size:  8.5in x 5.5in (21.5cm x 13.5cm)
• Collation:
  • Vol. I: xliii, 499 pp
  • Vol. II: viii, 523 pp
  • Vol. III: vii, 515 pp
• Contents Include:
  • Introduction on the Causes of Improvement in the Productive Powers of Labour
  • Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock
  • Of the Different Progress of Opulence in Different Nations
  • Of Systems of Political Economy
  • Of the Revenue of the Sovereign or Commonwealth
• Reference(s): Goldsmiths’-Kress 15565; PMM 221
  • PMM: “the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought.”

Condition:

Good. Spines restored professionally, with wear to the boards consistent with age. Text block complete and secure. Pages show moderate foxing but remain fully legible.

Why Collect This?

• Significant as an enduring text that shaped modern political economy

Item Number: #29398