Report, together with Minutes of Evidence, and Accounts from The Select Committee on the High Price of Gold Bullion.

£2,000 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

First trade edition, preceded only by a small number of copies printed in folio for official use; the folio copies were issued in August 1810, these octavo trade copies on 23 September 1810. 'The Bullion Report of 1810 holds a unique place in monetary controversy. It is probably the most famous public document in the history of economics' (Fetter, p. 152). In February 1810, the House of Commons set up the Select Committee on the High Price of Gold Bullion, to investigate why the price had risen during the Napoleonic Wars. Since the Bank of England ceased to redeem its bank notes in gold in 1797 due to the erosion of its reserves by the war, the price of gold was up 20, thereby ending many decades of gold at 4.25 per ounce as established in 1717 by Isaac Newton as Master of the Mint. Evidence was given by the Governor of the Bank of England and the Clerk of its Bullion Office, Nathan Mayer Rothschild (appearing anonymously), and also refiners, brokers, merchants, and exchange dealers, their testimony printed in the appendix (and consequently giving a unique insight into the gold trade in London). First trade edition; 8vo (22 x 13 cm); scattered light foxing, some minor dust-staining to prelims, ink ownership inscription to title, ink stamp to title and last leaf; publisher's red half morocco over marbled boards, gilt lettering to spine, some wear to extremities, corners slightly rubbed, overall a very good copy; x, 115 pp.

• Binding: Hardcover

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