MACKAY, Charles.

£22,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions. First edition of this influential study of crowd psychology, exploring the "madness of crowds" in its many manifestations over history, scarce in the original cloth. Mackay's book has profoundly influenced economic writers, with many citing it to analyse modern market bubbles.The Memoirs examines a range of delusions both "national" and "philosophical", including tulip mania, witch hunts, and alchemy. It has become a classic statement of Victorian individuality: as crowds are little more than unthinking masses, the individual is the only sure source of rational integrity.Charles Mackay (1814-1889) worked as political and literary editor of the Illustrated London News, before serving as a correspondent on the American Civil War for The Times from 1862 to 1865. His "passionate erudition and urbane, unaffected prose style contributed to make him one of the chief figures in the establishment of Victorian journalism as a dignified profession" (ODNB).

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.