MELON, Jean-François. Essai politique sur le commerce. Nouvelle édition augmentée de sept chapitres.
[Paris], 1736
Second authorized, corrected and enlarged edition of seven chapters. Important criticism of the system by John Law; also contains chapters on colonies, slavery, luxury, imports and exports, etc. Books that Made Europe: «A major work and a best-seller in the European economic Enlightenment, one of the earliest prospects of national economic competition to appear in France»
Jean-François Melon, 1675-1738, secretary to John Law and the Regent, collaborated in the development of the Scottish financier's monetary and banking system; he is considered the first French theorist of mercantilism and protectionism. Beccaria, Galiani, Adam Smith, Voltaire, Hume, Montesquieu: they all read Melon's «Essai» and were influenced by it, testifying to the enormous impact that the work had on the economic thought of the 18th century.
First published in three or four issues in Rouen in 1734, it was pirated in Amsterdam in 1735 before being published in its present form.
Einaudi 3821; Goldsmiths' 7371; Kress 4288; Mattioli 2355; McCulloch, pp. 60-1. Books that Made Europe: Economic Governance and Democracy from 15th to 20th Century, by Margherita Palumbo, Eugenio Sidoli, 2016, p. 124.
12mo. 170x105 mm. Contemporary binding in full brown marbled leather, gilt title and ornaments on the spine. Pages [8], 399, [1]. On the verso of the title page, note in an ancient hand. Good copy.