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Third edition, first issue, and the last edition with Ricardo's amendments; with excellent provenance, coming from the library of the free-market Nobel Laureate George Stigler, with his bookplate loosely inserted. George Stigler (1911-1991) was, like Ricardo, a lifelong advocate of free market economics, and a leader of the Chicago School. In 1947, he co-founded, with Hayek, the Mont Pelerin Society, the intellectual vanguard of the neoliberal counter-revolution against encroaching government control, later serving as its president from 1976-78. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1982 "for his seminal studies of industrial structures, functioning of markets, and causes and effects of public regulation". George Stigler was gifted a stock of personalized bookplates in his lifetime, but did not use them; they were subsequently loosely inserted into his volumes by his family after his death. Also loosely inserted is a note in Stigler's hand noting he bought the volume in 1978 for 200 dollars. Stigler, as a neoclassical economist, was undeniably moulded by the thought of Ricardo, and his ownership of this volume is particularly compelling. Stigler published a study of the economist, "The Ricardian Theory of Value and Distribution" (Journal of Political Economy, vol. 60, no. 3, 1952), and references Ricardo and his thought many times in his other works. Yet he did criticize the economist, writing in his review of Sraffa's edition of Ricardo's collected works, "I think Ricardo's policy recommendations were profoundly good but his theory was not of the highest quality". Yet Stigler recognizes that Ricardo was a product of his time, an age "when an untutored genius could still remake economic science", and in such an age his thought, even if he did not hold it to be of the highest quality, nonetheless made a tremendous impact on the discipline; "one can indeed debate the desirability of the influence Ricardo exerted on economics, but his vast influence is undeniable" ("Sraffa's Ricardo", in the American Economic Review, vol. 43, no. 4, 1953). Ricardo's Principles was first published in 1817. It is his fundamental contribution to economics, establishing a systematic and scientific approach to the discipline, and setting forth both the labour theory of value and the theory of comparative advantage. His approach and methods influenced all succeeding generations of economists, and provided a foundation of arguments for free trade through to today. This edition contains significant corrections and additions, the most important being a new chapter on machinery which was highly relevant in light of the Industrial Revolution. According to Sraffa, 1,000 copies were printed, the final few with a stop-press change to the last line of text on page 521 altering "it is differently estimated by different persons" (as here) to "it is variously estimated by different persons". Carpenter XXXVII (5); Einaudi 4741; Goldsmiths' 23131; Kress C.769; Sraffa 5c. Octavo. Uncut in original boards, neatly rebacked with facsimile paper label. Extensive early pencilled notes to the front and rear free endpapers of page references, pencilled crosses in margins throughout. Light wear to board edges, some very light foxing, neat repair to short closed tear on terminal leaf; an excellent copy.
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