[Finance] Smollett, Tobias (editor) Select Essays on Commerce, Mines,...

[Finance] Smollett, Tobias (editor)
Select Essays on Commerce, Mines, Agriculture, Fisheries, and other Useful Subjects
London: Printed for D. Wilson and T. Durham, 1754. First edition in English. 8vo. Translated by Tobias Smollett. Complete with 2 pp. of advertisements at rear. Armorial book-plate of Sr. Lucius O'Brien Bart. on front paste-down. Contemporary speckled brown calf, rebacked, with red morocco spine label. Some dampstaining; light foxing to title-page and prelims; small worming to bottom margins at rear. [Kress 5401]; [Goldsmiths' 8885]; [Higgs 740]
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O'Brien (1731-1795) was an Irish baronet and member of the Irish House of Commons.

'The first notice in English of the physiocratic doctrine' (Higgs) and the first work to introduce the publication most associated with the physiocratic movement, Journal Œconomique, to English readers. The physiocratic doctrine proposes that the wealth of nations is developed solely from the value of agriculture or land-development. The Journal Œconomique was the first review of French political economy, which supported free trade in grain and other laissez-faire policies. This volume comprises Smollett's translations of a selection of articles published in the Journal from its inception in 1751. The Collection of Victor Niederhoffer.