34
34 CHERBULIEZ, Antoine Elisée. Riche ou pauvre. Paris & Geneva: Librairie d’Ab. Cherbuliez et Ce, 1840 First edition of a work to which Karl Marx devoted an entire chapter in his Theorien über den Mehrwert ( Theories of Surplus Value ), writing that this book, together with George Ramsay’s Essay on the Distribution of Wealth , is the only one to have made the distinction (greatly important to Marx) between “constant” and “variable” capital (i.e. wage and non-wage capital). As Marx saw it: “It is an incontrovertible fact that, as capitalist production develops, the portion of capital invested in machinery and raw materials grows, and the portion laid out in wages declines. This is the question with which both Ramsay and Cherbuliez are concerned. For us, however, the main thing is: does this fact explain the decline in the rate of profit?” ( Theories of Surplus Value , III). Octavo (192 × 125 mm). Contemporary roan-backed marbled boards, spine ruled and lettered gilt, sprinkled edges. Library stamp of the VSK library to title and front free endpaper. Board edges lightly rubbed; a crisp, clean copy. ¶ Einaudi 1044; Goldsmiths’ 31820. £850 [105364] 35 CHURCHILL, Winston S. The People’s Rights Selected from his Lancashire and other Recent Speeches. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910 The third rarest Churchill book First edition, first general paper wrappers issue, first state. Due to the low quality of the materials, and the cheap and clumsy method of production, the book is among the most difficult to acquire for Churchill collectors: Cohen states that it is
35
“extremely scarce”, and Langworth declares it “the third rarest Churchill book after Mr. Brodrick’s Army and For Free Trade” . Following the rejection by the Conservative-dominated House of Lords of the Liberal government’s budget, prime minister Asquith dissolved parliament and took the Liberal case to the country, supporting higher taxation on the wealthy to fund an expanded welfare state. Churchill, as President of the Board of Trade, hit the campaign trail with a series of stirring speeches, given 3–11 December 1909. During or shortly after this speech tour, the publisher Hodder & Stoughton, as part of several hastily-published books in the run up to the election, arranged for the speeches to be published, issued in both cloth and wrappers. The election, held between 15 January and 10 February 1910, led to a large drop in seats for the Liberals, who were able to hang on in a minority government despite the Conservative Party receiving a larger vote share. It can be seen as the turning point for the Liberal Party, which began its long decline and eventual eclipse by the Labour Party, an undeniable factor in Churchill later abandoning the party and rejoining the Conservatives. Cohen records documentary evidence that the cloth issue preceded the general wrappers issue by a couple of weeks, but the wrapper issue is now much scarcer and more difficult to acquire in collectable condition. The first state, found in both cloth and wrappers, is distinguished by the misnumbering of p. 71 as “1”, without priority of issue. Alongside this general wrappers issue, five other issues in wrappers branded with different newspapers were also produced, with this issue preceding.
WEALTH AND WELFARE
20
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker