On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation.

Octavo, viii and 589 pp., (1) errata page, (14) pp.

Fawn calf, gilt fillet framing the covers, smooth spine richly decorated, decorated edges, marbled edges. Contemporary binding.

211 x 130 mm.

Ricardo, David. On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation.

London, John Murray, 1817.

First edition, first printing of David Ricardo’s most important contribution to the science of political economy.

Goldsmiths, 21734 ; Kress, B7029 ; Mattioli, 3015 ; Einaudi, 4740 ; Books that made Europe, p.198 ; PMM, 277.

"A towering contribution to the development of political economy. The book that overcame 18^th century doctrines, forever” (Books that made Europe).

"David Ricardo is without doubt the greatest representative of classical political economy. He carried the work begun by Adam Smith to the farthest point possible. In the opinion of his own contemporaries at home and abroad, Ricardo was acknowledged the leader of the science. His most important work is On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, first published in 1817" (Roll, History of Economic Thought, 155-6).

"The fundamental ground-work of the Principles is based on the theory that, given free competition in trade, the exchange value of commodities will be determined by the amount of labour expended in production: not a wholly original thesis, nor one capable of absolute expression, but one which was given new force by the theory of distribution with which Ricardo reinforced it. This has been summarized thus: 'the demand for food determines the margin of cultivation; this margin determines rent; the amount necessary to maintain the labourer determines wages; the difference between the amount produced by a given quantity of labour determines profit'" (PMM)

"Ricardo coordinated all his economic and financial ideas in his “Principles of Political Economy and Taxation.” The doctrine of rent, glimpsed by Adam Smith, partly dealt with by James Anderson in 1777 and then by Malthus in 1815, is here treated thoroughly by Ricardo. The work focuses on the themes of taxation, land rent, profits, and wages." (Ch. Coquelin, p.739).

Ricardo believes that his essential inquiry must focus on determining the relationships that govern the distribution of products among different social classes, a determination he achieves by tying the problem of distribution to that of the exchange value of goods, estimated according to the labor necessary to produce them. The foundations of a system were laid, a system on which, later, Marx would rely to build his theory of surplus value, as well as the theorists of utility.

"David Ricardo is one of those men who take the crises of societies seriously, and his writings present him as a man determined to rely on realities and not to venture into the realms of the ideal. If his sentences move forward, it is to get somewhere, not to show grace or flexibility along the way. In a word, even in his Principles, Ricardo writes under the dictate of events and with a view to real, tangible progress." (A. Fonteyraud)

A copy preserved in its original period binding.