An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. by SMITH, Adam - 1776

London: printed for W. Strahan; and T. Cadell, 1776. The first and greatest classic of modern economic thought" (PMM) First edition of the Wealth of Nations, "the first and greatest classic of modern economic thought" (PMM), a handsome copy in contemporary calf gilt, with an interesting double provenance, first from the renowned library of Kirtlington Park, subsequently in the private collection of the Dillon family, an American financial dynasty.
"Where the political aspects of human rights had taken two centuries to explore, Smith's achievement was to bring the study of economic aspects to the same point in a single work. The Wealth of Nations is not a system, but as a provisional analysis it is completely convincing" (PMM). It "had no rival in scope or depth when published and is still one of the few works in its field to have achieved classic status, meaning simply that it has sustained yet survived repeated reading, critical and adulatory, long after the circumstances which prompted it have become the object of historical enquiry" (ODNB). The first edition is thought to have had a press run of either 500 or 750 copies (Tribe).
The political career of Sir Henry Watkin Dashwood, third Baronet (1745-1828) was of mixed success. His extravagant lifestyle and the expenses tied to the family's lavish estate of Kirtlington Park - known for its significant library, rich Rococo interior, and grounds landscaped by Capability Brown - left him in near-constant debt. On coming into his inheritance upon his father's death in 1779, Dashwood paid off said debts through the sale of most of the family estates. Despite this he "was 'entirely ruin'd' by 1791 and therefore found it very necessary to remain in Parliament" (History of Parliament online). A drawing made by descendant Susan Alice Dashwood in the New York Metropolitan Museum shows a view of the library as it was in 1886; Kirtington's famed Rococo dining room is also at the Met.
The Dunwalke Library label lists the names of Clarence Douglass Dillon (1909-2003) and his sister Dorothy Anne (1912-2005). Their father was the famed Wall Street financier C. D. Dillon (1882-1979), named by Fortune Magazine in 1957 as one of the richest men in the United States, with an estimated worth of $150 to $200 million. Clarence Douglass was chairman of his father's banking company Dillon, Read & Co. (1946-53) before serving as secretary of the treasury (1961-65) under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. In later life Dillon was appointed president and then chairman of the Met (1970-7, 1977-83). Dorothy Anne (married name Eweson) graduated from Barnard College Magna cum laude and served on its board for many years, as well as on the boards of numerous museums and historical societies. She was a great patron of the performing arts and supported medical research at Harvard, MIT, and the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. She died in 2005 at age 92, leaving behind a fortune estimated at $300 million. 2 volumes, quarto (285 x 223 mm). Contemporary mottled calf, neatly rebacked preserving the original smooth spines, twin red and green morocco labels, elaborately gilt in compartments, floral-and-scrollwork border tooled in gilt to boards, inner dentelles gilt, marbled endpapers, edges yellow, green silk bookmarker. With the half-title in vol. 2 (no half-title issued for vol. 1) and the errata on title leaf verso of vol. 2 as called for, terminal blank to vol. 1 present. Contemporary engraved armorial bookplate of Sir Henry Dashwood, Bart. of Kirtlington Park to front pastedowns, printed bookplate of Dunwalke Library (shelfmark L7) pasted above. Binding presents handsomely, the gilt particularly so, with a few faint marks and small spill-burns to boards, corners expertly restored. Very occasional light foxing and smudges, inner margins browned from bookmarkers, a couple of miniscule punctures to margins and closed tear to upper margin of vol. 1 E3 (none affecting text), negligible loss to tip of vol. 1 L1 lower corner, "2" carefully added in manuscript to signature of vol. 1 2Z3. Overall an excellent copy, the contents notably bright and crisp. Goldsmiths' 11392; Grolier, English 57; Kress 7621; Printing and the Mind of Man 221; Rothschild 1897; Tribe 9; Vanderblue, p. 3.