[Rarebooks] fa: CHARLES DAVENANT - DISCOURSES ON PUBLICK REVENUES 1698 (Ex-libris E. F. Gay, first Dean of Harvard Business School)

[Ardwight Chamberlain]

Listed now, auction ending Sunday, October 13. More details and images can be found at the URL below or by searching under the seller name arch_in_la.

http://tinyurl.com/m3hzuff

Thanks,
Ardwight Chamberlain
L.A.


[Charles Davenant:] Discourses on the Publick Revenues, and on the Trade of England. In two parts. Viz. I. Of the use of political arithmetick, in all considerations about the revenues and trade. II. On credit, and the means and methods by which it may be restored. III. On the management of the King’s revenues. IV. Whither to farm the revenues, may not, in this juncture, be most for the publick service? V. On the publick debts and engagements… Part I. To which is added, A Discourse upon improving the Revenue of the State of Athens. Written originally in Greek, by Xenophon; and now made English from the original, with some historical notes; by another hand. London: Printed for James Knapton, at the Crown in St. Paul’s Church-yard, 1698. FIRST EDITION. Small 8vo (19 cm) bound in period paneled calf; [16], 279, [1], 62, [2] pp.; with the half-title and terminal leaf of publisher's adverts, and three folding tables (complete). ESTC R9868; Wing D306.

With a unique and fitting provenance: the front endpaper bears the signature of "E. F. Gay," Edwin Francis Gay (1867-1946), economist and publisher, the first dean of the Harvard Business School (1908-1919) and the first American economic historian to win international recognition. Binding with rubbing and wear to the extremities, some cracking to the joints but both boards are secure; one folding table slightly loose at the top, mild darkening/dust-soiling to the edges of the text block, a few leaves with some light scattered spotting; otherwise the contents are very clean and crisp, securely bound. A handsome example of this foundational work of political economy.

The first part only (complete in itself) of Davenant's groundbreaking two-part work. While the second part dealt primarily with foreign trade, this volume focuses on the more fundamental issues of Political Arithmetick ("the Art of Reasoning, by Figures, upon Things related to Government"), including credit, revenue, excises and duties, public debt, etc. Davenant's Discourses were clearly a significant influence on Adam Smith, who cited them numerous times in his own work. As issued, the work is bound with A Discourse upon Improving the Revenue of the State of Athens, which has a separate title-page dated 1697.

Charles Davenant (1656-1714), son of the playwright and poet laureate William Davenant, was an MP and pioneering political economist. He served under Charles II and James II as Commissioner of Excise (1678-89) and under Queen Anne as Inspector-General of Exports and Imports from 1705 until his death. A strong advocate of mercantilism who showed "distinct tendencies towards what might almost be called a free-trade position" (Palgrave Dictionary of Economics), Davenant is credited with being the first to understand and discuss the concepts of Balance of Trade, Consumer Demand, and Perfect Competition. He published a number of works on politics and economics, of which his Discourses are generally considered the most important.