COURS D'ÉCONOMIE POLITIQUE PROFESSÉ Ŕ L'UNIVERSITÉ DE LAUSANNE

Lausanne: F. Rouge, Éditeur, Librairie de l'Universit, 1896-1897. 2 volumes. Rare First Edition. The First Major Work by this very important economist. Illustrated with numerous tables and graphs throughout. 8vo, in a fine French binding of three-quarter burnt-red morocco over marbled boards, spines lettered gilt on two gilt ruled black morocco labels, additional gilt ruling at the ends. viii. 430: (4), 426 pp. A very fine and attractive set of this rare first edition, the handsome bindings as mint, the text fresh and clean with just the lightest hint of age, a superior set indeed. RARE FIRST EDITION OF ONE OF THE GREAT MODERN CLASSICS OF ECONOMICS, IT WAS IN THESE COURSES THAT PARETO BEGAN HIS DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT OF 'PARETO EFFICIENCY' WHICH HELPED CREATE THE FIELD OF MICROECONOMICS AND CHANGED ECONOMICS FROM A PHILOSOPHICAL STUDY TO A PRACTICAL ONE.
In 1893, Pareto succeeded Léon Walras to the chair of Political Economy at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, where he remained for the rest of his life. He was he first to discover that income follows a power-law probability distribution of wealth in a society, fitting the trend that a large portion of wealth is held by a small fraction of the population, the 'Pareto distribution'.
Pareto's legacy in the study of economist is profound. Much in response to his efforts the economics evolved from a branch of moral philosophy, as viewed by Adam Smith, into a data intensive field of scientific research and mathematical equations.