had proved Stein to be as brilliantly effective a fieldworker as the Rajatarangini showed him to be a scholarly Orientalist – a pioneer in a vast new field of research; the Second, extending his investigations to Tun-Huang and the Aksai Chin, made him a hero and brought him knighthood; the Third, extending his field of operations still further – into Mongolia on the east and Iran on the west – gave substance to his role as ‘Archaeological Explorer’” (Mirsky, p. 461). Octavo. Original reddish-brown cloth, spine lettered in gilt, front cover with embossed gilt roundel showing Athena with arm outstretched brandishing the aegis incorporating the gorgoneion (Stein’s personal emblem), top edge gilt, others uncut. Coloured frontispiece with captioned tissue guard, and 15 other similar plates, 78 half-tone photographic plates, and 8 extensive folding panoramas, folding coloured map. 2 pp. of publisher’s advertisements at end. Neat contemporary ownership signature of one “G. N. [or W.] Cooper” on front free endpaper. Some minor marks to covers, spine slightly cocked, top left of front cover bumped, remnants of adhesive tape on endpapers, scattered foxing, tear to folding map repaired with semi-opaque archival tape on verso. A very good copy. ¶ Howgego IV, S65; Yakushi S338. Jeannette Mirsky, Sir Aurel Stein: Archaeological Explorer , 1998. £1,250 [157660] 143 STEUART, Sir James. An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Oeconomy. London: printed for A. Millar, and T. Cadell, 1767 the culmination of british economic thought prior to the wealth of nations First edition of the author’s masterpiece. “Sir James Steuart had the misfortune to be followed by Adam Smith in less than a decade. Otherwise [Steuart’s Inquiry ] would probably have served as the standard English economic text” (Carpenter). Its later influence “proved to be most considerable on the continent. During the 1770s the text was translated into German (twice), and into French in 1789. One authority has noted that ‘until the final decade of the eighteenth century, Sir James Steuart’s Inquiry was better known and more frequently cited than Smith’s Wealth of Nations ’ (Tribe, p. 133). The admiration of the members of the 19th-century German historical school is now well known. Steuart’s historical and cosmopolitan perspective later attracted the well- documented attention of Marx, while it is known that Hegel spent some three months studying one of the German editions. But perhaps the most intriguing
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link is with North America. The Dublin edition of the Inquiry (1770) was widely circulated in the colonies. The book also attracted the attention of Alexander Hamilton, whose protectionist position was adopted with a view to counterbalancing the competitive advantages of the British economy in the years following the treaty of Paris (1783)” ( ODNB ). 2 volumes, quarto (294 × 231 mm). Late 20th-century sheep to style, preserving earlier endpapers with 19th-century book label “Treasury Library. Financial Room”, spines gilt with red and green labels. With 2 folding letterpress tables. No half-
titles, as issued, bound with terminal errata. Spines a little sunned, scattered light foxing and soiling else contents clean, short closed tear at foot of vol. II leaf 3O4; a very good copy. ¶ Blaug, Great Economists before Keynes , pp. 241–2; Carpenter, The Economic Bestsellers Before 1850 , p. 20; Einaudi 1527; ESTC N797; Goldsmiths’ 10276; Higgs 3968; Kress 6498; Schumpeter, History of Economic Analysis , p. 176. £17,500 [158408]
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All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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