ALISON, Archibald.

£950 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

The Principles of Population, First edition, inscribed "with the author's compliments" on the first half-title, and in exemplary condition. Alison firmly opposes Malthus's view of population; his rebuttal "hinted at a progressive tory programme of poor relief, diffusion of property, and penal reform" (ODNB).Alison presents population growth as the stimulus that forces humanity on to higher stages of development and civilization, and promotes the peopling of the uninhabited regions of the world. The poor laws, he argues in opposition to Malthus, restrains reproduction rather than encouraging it.

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