MUN, Thomas (1571-1641). England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade. Or, the ballance of our forraign trade is the rule of our treasure. Written by Thomas Mun of Lond. merchant ... now published ... by his son John Mun of Bearsted. London: J[ohn]...

MUN, Thomas (1571-1641). England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade. Or, the ballance of our forraign trade is the rule of our treasure. Written by Thomas Mun of Lond. merchant ... now published ... by his son John Mun of Bearsted. London: J[ohn] G[rismond] for Thomas Clark, 1664.

Very rare first edition of a milestone in economics, ‘mercantilism at its best’. No copy is recorded at auction since 1977. ‘For those who want to read a single example of mercantilist writing, it is difficult to better Thomas Mun’s England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade, completed in 1628 and published posthumously in 1664. Adam Smith at any rate regarded it as perfectly representative of a vast body of similar literature: “The title of Mun’s book,” he said, “became a fundamental maxim in the political economy, not of England only, but of all other commercial countries”’(Blaug). Mun’s work epitomized ‘the marriage of economics and national policy in the 17th century’ (PMM). It offered a compelling explanation of the dynamics of growth through commercial expansion, and advocated the promotion of the manufacturing and industrial sector as the true creator of added value. ‘Mun [1571–1641] may be considered as the earliest expositor of what has been called the mercantile system of commercial policy. It was found to be indispensable to the profitable carrying on of the trade to India, and the East generally, that the exportation of gold and silver, which had hitherto been prohibited, should be permitted. But though Mun, in accordance with the prejudices of his time, admitted that the precious metals were the only real wealth a country could possess, he contended that their exportation might be safely allowed, provided the total value of the exports exceeded the total value of the imports; for in that case, said Mun, the balance must be paid in bullion, and our riches will annually increase by that amount!’ (McCulloch). A tradesman, and a manager of the East India Company, rather than scholar, thanks primarily to this posthumously-published work Mun has been acknowledged as ‘the most prominent and sophisticated of the early seventeenth century mercantilists in England’ (Rothbard). Carpenter IV; ESTC R25740; Goldsmiths’ 1735; Kress 1139; PMM 146; Wing M 3074; Appleby, Economic Thought; Ideology in 17th Century England, pp. 37–41, Blaug, Great Economists before Keynes, pp. 174–176; Hecksher, Mercantilism II, and Rothbard, Economic Thought before Adam Smith, pp. 289–91.

Octavo (162 x 103mm). With two final advertisement leaves. Imprimatur on leaf A1v (before the title): White-Hall, March 24, 1663/4 (a few very occasional spots). Contemporary calf, sides ruled in blind (rebacked, two corners repaired, minute repairs to the end leaves).

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