Frederic Morton Eden | The State of the Poor: or, an History of the Labouring Classes in England, 1797, first edition, 3 volumes, J. Paul Getty's copy

Sir Frederic Morton Eden

The State of the Poor: or, an History of the Labouring Classes in England, from the Conquest to the Present Period. London: J. Davis, 1797

FIRST EDITION, 3 volumes, 4to (259 x 200 mm), half-titles in each volume, contemporary mottled calf, blue speckled edges, lacking errata leaf, rebacked preserving most of original spines

FIRST EDITION OF EDEN'S PIONEERING WORK OF SOCIAL INVESTIGATION, THE COPY OWNED BY THE WORLD'S RICHEST MAN.

"[The State of the Poor] was written from a perspective that reveals Eden's general adherence to Adam Smith's system of natural liberty in economic affairs; this led Karl Marx to claim that Eden was the only eighteenth-century disciple of Smith to produce a work of any significance..." (Donald Winch, ODNB).

The present copy has the library stamps of Sutton Place from the time when it was owned by J. Paul Getty, at the time the world's wealthiest private individual. After Getty's death, the Getty Oil Corporation sold Sutton Place to Stanley J. Seeger.

PROVENANCE:

Edward Southwell Trafford (1838–1912), armorial bookplate; J. Paul Getty (1892–1976), library stamps to front free endpapers ("Getty Oil (Britain) Ltd., | Sutton Place, | Guildford, | Surrey.")

LITERATURE:

Einaudi 1714; Goldsmiths' 17107; Kress B.3384; PMM 249