MIRABEAU, Victor Riquetti de, & François Quesnay.

£27,500 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

L'Ami des Hommes, ou Traité de la Population. First complete edition of all six parts, containing the first public appearance of Quesnay's Tableau Économique; a superb copy in contemporary French red morocco, very uncommon thus.The first to follow Quesnay in the foundation of the Physiocratic circle, Mirabeau was familiar with and influenced by Cantillon's theories. As well as fully articulating the principles that were to mark the school of physiocrats and expounding their implications regarding population, agriculture and commerce, the Ami de l'Homme contained a reproduction of Quesnay's Tableau Économique (vol. 6), previously published separately in very small numbers in 1758 and 1759. Mirabeau's reproduction made the essay obtainable, thus bringing the founding document of the school of physiocrats to the attention of a wide public. "This remarkable treatise created the greatest sensation throughout the whole of Europe. It is said to have gone through forty editions, and was translated into several languages. Its anonymous author, soon discovered, became the idol of the day, and was generally referred to by the soubriquet which he had chosen for the title of his book" (Palgrave II, p. 775).Following the publication of the first three parts, Mirabeau made the acquaintance of Quesnay who had been greatly impressed by his book. "Mirabeau now became the fervent admirer of Quesnay, and between them they founded the school of the Physiocrats" (ibid.). With this new edition of t

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