England’s Benefit and Advantage by Foreign Trade, Plainly Demonstrated.
MUN, Thomas.
England’s Benefit and Advantage by Foreign Trade, Plainly Demonstrated.
"A fundamental maxim in the political economy not of England only, but of all other commercial countries" (Adam Smith); First edition of Mun's England's Benefit and Advantage by Foreign Trade, Plainly Demonstrated
London: Printed for E.J. for The Horne, 1698.
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Item Number: 103508
First edition with the revised title of this milestone in economics, ‘mercantilism at its best’, originally published in 1664 as England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade. Or, the ballance of our forraign trade is the rule of our treasure. “The title of this book became, in Adam Smith’s words, ‘a fundamental maxim in the political economy not of England only, but of all other commercial countries’. It gave Mun his claim to the title of founder of the mercantile system of political economy” (DNB). Small octavo, bound in full contemporary calf. Period ownership names to the front free endpapers. Exceedingly rare.
"For those who want to read a single example of mercantilist writing, it is difficult to better Thomas Mun’s England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade, completed in 1628 and published posthumously in 1664. Adam Smith at any rate regarded it as perfectly representative of a vast body of similar literature: “The title of Mun’s book,?? he said, “became a fundamental maxim in the political economy, not of England only, but of all other commercial countries??’(Blaug). Mun’s work epitomized ‘the marriage of economics and national policy in the 17th century’ (PMM). It offered a compelling explanation of the dynamics of growth through commercial expansion, and advocated the promotion of the manufacturing and industrial sector as the true creator of added value. "Mun may be considered as the earliest expositor of what has been called the mercantile system of commercial policy. It was found to be indispensable to the profitable carrying on of the trade to India, and the East generally, that the exportation of gold and silver, which had hitherto been prohibited, should be permitted. But though Mun, in accordance with the prejudices of his time, admitted that the precious metals were the only real wealth a country could possess, he contended that their exportation might be safely allowed, provided the total value of the exports exceeded the total value of the imports; for in that case, said Mun, the balance must be paid in bullion, and our riches will annually increase by that amount!’ (McCulloch).
