A Catechism on the Corn Laws; with a list of fallacies and the answers. In this Edition the List of Fallacies is more than doubled. The additions are distinguished by brackets []; [together with] -- The True Theory of Rent, in opposition to Mr. Ricardo and others. Being an exposition of fallacies on rent, tithes, &c. In the form of a Review of Mr. Mill's Elements of Political Economy.

THOMPSON, Thomas Perronet.

Published by London: Printed for James Ridgway, 1828

About this Item

Fourth edition of Catechism, third edition of Theory. These two pamphlets outline a challenge of the highly influential Ricardian theory of rent, by a former associate of Wilberforce and one of a group of economists whom Schumpeter felt "deserve to be known better than they are" (p. 714). The Ricardian principle of rent was often invoked by those arguing against the corn laws. Thompson, by contrast, felt that this was the weakest part of the anti-corn law case. The Theory of Rent challenges the principle directly, while the Catechism aims to develop a more persuasive argument for the repeal of the laws more generally. The first edition of the Theory was published in 1826, and the first of the Catechism followed in 1827. In his preface to the third edition of the Theory, Thompson summarizes the development of the argument since the publication of the Catechism. The fourth edition of the Catechism is itself more than double the length of the third. Earlier in his career, Thomas Perronet Thompson (1783-1869) served as governor of Sierra Leone from 1808 to 1810. Wilberforce helped to establish the colony and he was still intimately involved in it in 1808 as a director of the Sierra Leone Company. As governor, Thompson campaigned extensively against what he saw as the undisguised survival of slavery in Sierra Leone through systems of forced apprenticeship. The allegations embarrassed Wilberforce and the company, which advised the government to recall him in 1810. Catechism: Black 3886; Goldsmiths' 25494; Kress C.2203; Rent: Goldsmiths' 25473. Joseph Schumpeter, History of Economic Analysis, 1954. Two works bound and apparently issued together, octavo, pp. iv, 123, [1]; pp. iv, 60. Original tan boards, spine with label printed in black, edges uncut. Light bumping and wear, faint toning to spine and loss to spine ends, minor rubbing and loss to spine label affecting text, infrequent foxing to contents: a very good copy.

Seller Inventory # 176928

Bibliographic Details

• Title: A Catechism on the Corn Laws; with a list of fallacies and the answers. In this Edition the List of Fallacies is more than doubled. The additions are distinguished by brackets []; [together with] -- The True Theory of Rent, in opposition to Mr. Ricardo and others. Being an exposition of fallacies on rent, tithes, &c. In the form of a Review of Mr. Mill's Elements of Political Economy.
• Publisher: London: Printed for James Ridgway, 1828