Fleetwood William Bishop Ely (4 results)

Hardback. Condition: VG-. Dust Jacket Condition: No DW. 1st Edition. Clean tight text with undamaged endpapers which have lifted from covers. Old full leather with raised bands. No title Label. Coers ound buta bit worn. Book is in very good minus condition with minor but noticeable signs of wear and/or age.

London: T. Osborne. 1745. 8vo. Contemporary calf, gilt double-fillet border to covers, sometime rebacked with raised bands and paper label to spine, edges sprinkled red; pp. [10], 147, [3], 30, [2], with 12 engraved plates of coins; loosely inserted an additional engraved portrait of Bishop Fleetwood; extremities a little worn, endpapers renewed; occasional light spotting but overall a very good, clean copy; ownership inscriptions "H. L. 1760" "D. A. 1834" in ink to title; occasional marginal annotation in ink and pencil.Second edition, first published 1707. Bishop Fleetwood had been asked by a correspondent whether it was fair that a man should have to surrender his fellowship at Oxford for having an estate worth more than PS5, when that limit had been set in 1440. Fleetwood's ensuing effort to work out how much PS5 was worth in the fifteenth century led him to create this book, the first major historical survey of prices and wages. "Although in his price comparison Fleetwood did not go so far as to think of weighting his individual items according to their importance in a shopping basket, he did see the need to have a single magnitude, however approximate, as an index of change" (Stone). The book's significance did not gain recognition until the nineteenth century, although Adam Smith used some of Fleetwood's data in The Wealth of Nations.ESTC T145226.

First edition of this landmark in the history of econometrics, the first major historical survey of prices, wages and income. In answer to a question about an Oxford Fellowship, Fleetwood set out to determine historical changes in the value of money. "But his treatise took a wider range; it brought together all the information he could find on the value of money and the prices of commodities during the Middle Ages in England; and it is still well worth consulting" (Palgrave II, 89). "Although in his price comparison Fleetwood did not go so far as to think of weighting his individual items according to their importance in a shopping basket, he did see the need to have a single magnitude, however approximate, as an index of change" (Stone). The index worked out by Fleetwood has proved notably accurate: the figures in E.H. Phelps Brown's and S.V. Hopkins' 1956 assessment of seven centuries of prices of consumables revealed a remarkable proximity to Fleetwood's results. ESTC T4823; Goldsmiths' 4403; Hanson 823; Hollander 635; Kress 2553; Massie 3581. Octavo (187 x 117 mm). Contemporary calf, brown morocco label, later morocco shelflabel at foot. 18th-century notes on the book and author to initial binder's blank, a few early annotations to text, lengthy early annotation to p. 54 on price history, early ownership signature (Hoare Johnson) and note of author to title page, which has been ruled in red by hand. Front free endpaper excised. Slight rubbing, contents clean, a very good copy.

First edition of this landmark in the history of econometrics. Chronicon Preciosum was the first major historical survey of prices, wages and income. In answer to a question about an Oxford Fellowship, Fleetwood set out to determine historical changes in the value of money. "But his treatise took a wider range; it brought together all the information he could find on the value of money and the prices of commodities during the Middle Ages in England; and it is still well worth consulting" (Palgrave II, p. 89). "Although in his price comparison Fleetwood did not go so far as to think of weighting his individual items according to their importance in a shopping basket, he did see the need to have a single magnitude, however approximate, as an index of change" (Stone). The index worked out by Fleetwood has proved notably accurate: the figures in E.H. Phelps Brown's and S.V. Hopkins' 1956 assessment of seven centuries of prices of consumables revealed a remarkable proximity to Fleetwood's results. ESTC T4823; Goldsmiths' 4403; Hanson 823; Hollander 635; Kress 2553; Massie 3581. Octavo (192 x 114 mm). Contemporary panelled calf, red label to spine, spine gilt to compartments, covers panelled in blind with foliate cornerpieces, red speckled edges. Bookplate to pastedown. Discreetly refurbished with joints and extremities repaired. A very good, clean copy.