RICARDO, DAVID. On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation. . . Second Edition. 8vo, 19th-century .5 tan calf gilt, spine darkened and scuffed. London, 1819 [4,000-6000 Classic in the literature of political economy, expounding the doctrine

RICARDO, DAVID. On the Principles of Political Economy, and Taxation. . . Second Edition. 8vo, 19th-century .5 tan calf gilt, spine darkened and scuffed. London, 1819 [4,000-6000 Classic in the literature of political economy, expounding the doctrine that in freely competitive trade the labor expended in production determines the exchange value of commodities. "Ricardo saw the study of economics as a pure science whose abstractions were capable of quasi-mathematical proof. Although his theorems remain hypothetical, his deductive methods have proved of great use in the elementary analysisof economic problems, and in the subjects which are capable of his rigid analysis, currency and banking, it has proved of lasting value"- Printing and the Mind of Man 277 (1817 original edition). With the armorial bookplate of the politician Henry Drummond (1786-1860), who "though accus-tomed to attack the political economists . . . in 1825 founded the professorship of political economy at Oxford. He was an enthusiastic supporter and one of the founders of the Irvingite church in which he held the rank of apostle, evangelist, and prophet" (DNB)