ISELIN, Isaak (ed.).

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Ephemeriden der Menschheit oder Bibliothek der Sittenlehre, der Politik und der Gesetzgebung. First collected edition, following the monthly issues published in Basel from 1776 to 1777. This German physiocratic periodical was one of the most important journals of the late Enlightenment.The editor, Iselin (1728-1782), was the foremost promoter of physiocracy in Switzerland and Germany. After reading the Ephémérides du Citoyen, Iselin wrote that Quesnay became for him "'what Newton is in the eyes of a mathematician'... Iselin published a monthly journal in German, dedicated to the propaganda of the doctrines of the economists; this bore the title, borrowed from the French organ of the school, Ephemeriden der Menschheit. This soon gained a great reputation in German-speaking countries, and numbered among its contributors many of the most prominent economic authors of Germany [like C. L. Juncker, J. A. Schlettwein, J. G. Schlosser and others]" (Palgrave, II, p. 459-60).The journal included essays and articles on economic subjects - agriculture, lotteries, and taxation - and political events. This included several items around the American Revolution, most printing the Declaration of Independence. It also contained critical reviews of new books, including the German translation of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations.The journal continued publication in 1778 (none of those monthly issues were collected in this edition), was not published in 1779, and resumed publication in Leipzig from

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