Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en général - photo 1

Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en général

Lot 40
27.06.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 22 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1236270
Lot 40 | Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en général
Estimate value
$ 25 000 – 35 000
[CANTILLON, Richard (d. 1734).] Essai sur la Nature du Commerce en général. Traduit de l'Anglois. A Londres: chez Fletcher Gyles [i.e. Paris : Pierre André Guillyn], 1755.

A fine copy of the first edition from the first great economic theorist, the "founding father of modern economics" (Rothbard). His Essai is hailed as "the most systematic statement of economic principles before the Wealth of Nations" (Roll) and was described by Jevons as "the cradle of political economy." In it, he is credited with coining the term entrepreneur in its modern usage, which he observed “entails bearing the risk of buying at certain prices and selling at uncertain prices” (Cuervo). The work also anticipates Malthus—indeed it contains an almost complete anticipation of the Malthusian theory of population—and was cited by Adam Smith, Condillac, and Quesnay, amongst many other early economists. "It contained a theory of relative wages which was used by Smith; the famous Tableau économique of the Physiocrats was probably inspired by the Essai, and the treatment of the theory of money was of pioneering importance. The Essai also contains his theories of wages, prices, and interest, the workings of currency circulation, the role of precious metals in the international economy, and other subjects" (Britannica). "Cantillon was the first real model builder in economics" (ODNB).

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 eventually deemed it prudent to depart for England. In 1734 he was murdered by his recently-dismissed cook, who evidently robbed him and burned his house down, destroying his manuscripts among other things. While in Paris, Cantillon had written the Essai in English and translated it into French for a friend. That friend arranged for its publication more than two decades later in 1755.

12mo (166 x 90mm). Half-title (faint and narrow dampstain at upper margin through second half of volume). Contemporary mottled calf gilt (hint of rubbing, one corner just showing). Provenance: C.A. de Thelis (bookplate).


Artist:Richard Cantillon (1680 - 1734)
Place of origin:England
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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13.06.2024 – 27.06.2024
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