Malthus Rev Thomas Robert (4 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Ninth edition, a good tight copy, some wear at top & base of spine, slight fading to same, boards are fresh & clean, internally the text block is tight & square with age spotting affecting preliminary pages & endpapers, free from pencil markings/annotations etc.

Ninth Edition. 21 x 14 cm. xv, 551 pages. Later fine polished calf. Dark blue and green spine labels. Gilt titles and decorations. All edges gilt. Marbled end papers. Binder Stamp ('Bound by Bayntun Riviere Bath England') on verso of front free end paper. Near fine condition. Minor shelf wear, rubbing and bumping. Joint and hinges started to crack. Internally bright and clean. Thomas Robert Malthus (1766 - 1834) was an English economist, cleric, and scholar influential in the fields of political economy and demography. One of the most important and influential works in the history of economic thought. The central idea of the essay - and hub of the Malthusian theory - was a simple one. If the natural increase in population occurs the food supply becomes insufficient, and the size of the population is checked by 'misery' - that is the poorest sections of the community suffer disease and famine. Malthus recognises two other possible checks to population expansion: first 'vice' - that is, homosexuality, prostitution, and abortion (all totally unacceptable to Malthus); and second 'moral restraint' - the voluntary limitation of the product of children by the postponement of marriage" (PMM). "For today's readers, living in a post-Malthus era, the world's population problems are well known and serious, but no longer sensational. It is difficult therefore to appreciate the radical and controversial impact made by the Essay at the time of publication. It challenged the conventional notion that population growth is an unmixed blessing. It discussed prostitution, contraception, and other sexual matters. And it gave vivid descriptions of the horrendous consequences of overpopulation and of the brutal means by which populations are checked" (ODNB). Despite its unpopularity with liberal critics, Malthus's principle of population became accepted as a central tenet of classical political economy and Charles Darwin acknowledged Malthus's influence in the development of his theory of natural selection. Carpenter XXXII (1); Einaudi 3667; Garrison-Morton 1693; Goldsmiths' 17268; Kress B3693; McCulloch, pp. 259-60; Norman 1431; Printing and the Mind of Man 251. Octavo (212 x 130 mm) (Peter Harrington).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 3rd Edition. London: Printed for J. Johnson, in St. Paul's Church-Yard, By T. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street, 1806. Third Edition collated and complete. Two volumes, in recent dark calf with gilt titles to red leather labels, gilt bands, marbled paper covered boards, new end papers, text blocks tight, tanned and foxed throughout, with some creasing, damp staining and wrinkling to the pages. Thomas Robert Malthus FRS (17661834) was an English economist, cleric, and scholar influential in the fields of political economy and demography. In his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population, Malthus observed that an increase in a nation's food production improved the well-being of the population, but the improvement was temporary because it led to population growth, which in turn restored the original per capita production level. In other words, humans had a propensity to use abundance for population growth rather than for maintaining a high standard of living, a view and stance that has become known as the "Malthusian trap" or the "Malthusian spectre". Populations had a tendency to grow until the lower class suffered hardship, want and greater susceptibility to war, famine, and disease, a pessimistic view that is sometimes referred to as a Malthusian catastrophe. Pagination: xvi, 505, [63]pp; vii, [i], 559pp. Signatures: A to Nn in gatherings of 8, Oo in gathering of 4; A in gathering of 4, B-Nn in gatherings of 8. Provenance: no inscription or bookplates. Approximately 8 ½ inches tall (21.5cm). Condition Report Externally Spine very good condition recent dark calf with gilt titles to red labels, gilt bands, gilt volume numbers. Joints very good condition sound. Corners very good condition sound. Boards very good condition half calf and marbled boards. Page edges good condition top edge darkened gilt, others tanned and foxed. See above and photos. Internally Hinges very good condition secure. Paste downs very good condition plain paper. End papers very good condition plain paper, subsequently tanned and foxed. Title good condition tanned and minorly foxed. Pages good condition foxed, tanned with minor marks throughout, some damp staining to the end pages of Vol I, creasing and waviness to the pages. See photos.

[Demography] FIRST TWO VOLUME EDITION. Octavos (22 x 14 x 8cm), pp.xvi; 505; [63], pp.viii; 559; [1]. Brown half calf, marbled paper over boards. Gilt ruling and red labels containing gilt titles to spines. All edges speckled blue. Interior relatively bright and clean, a few leaves spotted/marked. Infrequent pencil annotations throughout each volume. Small ownership inscription in both volumes to a front, blank leaf. Toning to corners of all endpapers. Marbled boards rubbed, some wear to calf spines and extremities. Very good. Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus, FRS (1766-1834), known as Thomas Malthus or Robert Malthus (his preference), was an English demographer and political economist. He is best known for his pessimistic but highly influential views on population growth. In 'An Essay on the Principle of Population' (1798) Malthus made the famous prediction that population would outrun food supply, leading to a decrease in food per person.