Tracts; Chiefly Relating To Ireland. Containing: I. A Treatise of Taxes and Contributions. II. Essays in Political Arithmetic. III. The Political Anatomy of Ireland. To Which is prefixed His Last Will.

Dublin: Printed by Boulter Grierson, 1769. First Collected Edition. Despite the title only part of the work relates to Ireland. "The key figure in the development of an agrarian model in English political economy is William Petty. Petty is widely acknowledged to be a founder of classical political economy. Marx dubbed him "the father of English political economy" and praised his "audacious genius." Max Beer described Petty as "the pioneer of the English economics of production" and claimed that "he must be regarded as the initiator of classical English economics: he laid the foundations on which his successors—Smith and Ricardo—could erect their structures." In the view of Eric Roll, Petty is "the most important, as well as the earliest, English economist who prepared the way for the classical system," while writers such as Schumpeter, Spiegel, and Meek have praised him as the originator of the concept of economic interdependence through the division of labour and of modern income analysis. In The Origins of Scientific Economics, William Letwin has written of Petty's major economic work, A Treatise of Taxes and Contributions, that "its basic structure must stand as a work of surpassing originality. The quality of its analysis makes it an unmistakable masterpiece of early economic science." (David McNally, Political Economy and the Rise of Capitalism: A Reinterpretation) Petty and his friend John Gaunt are credited with originating the sciences of demography and statistics. "Although his figures were sometimes questionable, Petty was the first economic theorist to make a significant attempt to base economic policy upon statistical data. His Treatise of Taxes and Contributions (1662), possibly his best work, discussed the economy of Ireland and England and attempted to formulate sound policies for promoting wealth and collecting taxes. He was the first to emphasize the value of labor as a part of national wealth, and he also provided an important analysis of rents. His short Verbum sapienti, written about 1665 and published in 1691, is more quantitative and contains the first estimate of national incomes and the first discussion of the velocity of money. The Political Anatomy of Ireland, written about 1672 and published in 1691, also on economic policy, is supported by economic geography. In Political Arithmerick, written 1671-1676 and published in 1690, Petty extended his discussion to a comparison of the wealth and economic policies of England and France. He argued the benefits of a division of labor and the gains from foreign trade in Another Essay in Political Arithmetick Concerning the Growth of the City of London (1683). (On-line Encycl.) Kress 6672. Goldsmiths' 10508. Higgs 4730. Keynes 64. McCulloch p. 211. 8vo. pp. xxxiv, 169, 210, 213-488. pp. [170]-195 are double-numbered (French & English text on opposite pages, pp. 209-10 bound immediately following title & pp. 211-12 omitted in pagination. contemporary tree calf, rebacked (scattered foxing & some light browning). elala5772