Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities.: Prelude to a Critique of Economic Theory.

Cambridge: At the University Press,, 1960. First edition, first impression, of Sraffa's "classic in capital theory" (New Palgrave), his critique of the orthodox theory of value and distribution, which laid the groundwork for the revival of classical and Marxian approaches. "Production of Commodities is a peculiarly sparse book. The argument has been pared to the absolute minimum to sustain the propositions which Sraffa wishes to advance. Yet, the precision and logical elegance of the argument are 'the work of an artist working in the medium of economic theory'... Did any scholar have so great an impact on economic science as Piero Sraffa did in so few writings?" (ibid.). Provenance: John David Pitchford (1932-2021), with his ink signature (dated 13 December 1960) on the front free endpaper. Pitchford was professor of economics at the Australian National University from 1965 to 1995. Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt. With dust jacket. Graphs in the text. Loosely inserted sheet of pencil exchange figures. Very light bumping and rubbing, a couple of spots of foxing to endpapers and contents; minor rubbing and marking to clipped jacket, faint toning to spine, short closed tear to head of rear panel: a very good copy in like jacket.