[A single volume containing 10 titles demonstrating Walras's developing theories of economic equilibrium.] by WALRAS, Leon - 1874-91

Various places: Various publishers, , 1874-91. Written during the author's "period of high creativity and maximum theoretical prolificacy" A substantial pamphlet volume, including the first edition of Théorie de la monnaie and the first separate editions of his articles on bimetallism and price variation, from the years of his "second phase of theoretical activity, his period of high creativity and maximum theoretical prolificacy" (Walker, p. 9), when he was in the process of developing his initial comprehensive model of general equilibrium that would eventually appear in the first edition of Éléments, and his later period of maturity during the 1880s and 1890s, when he "significantly extended, refined, and altered his system, particularly in regard to capital, money, and equilibrating mechanisms, and composed numerous essays on applied and normative economics" (The New Palgrave IV, p. 854). Several of these articles, written after Walras's appointment as professor of political economy at the University of Lausanne in 1871, were first delivered to the Vaudois Society of National Science in Lausanne (and then printed in their Bulletin), and others were published in the Journal des Économistes as well as in publications of various other societies. This volume has a pertinent mathematical provenance, having been bound together for the Royal Statistical Society of London who, in the late 19th century, were acquiring material for their library which was deemed to have made a valuable contribution to statistical and economic science. A note at the foot of the manuscript list of contents erads "N.B. Nos 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, & 10 of the above form the book called Théorie mathématique de la richesse sociale." Bound up together are the following titles: a) Principe d'une théorie mathématique de l'échange. Mémoire lu à l'académie des sciences morales et politiques (Séances des 16 et 23 août 1873). Orléans: Ernest Colas, 1874. Pp. [5], 6-24, 1 folding plate. A bright, clean copy. Original offprint, separately paginated, first published in Paris by Alphonse Picard in January 1874 after Walras read the essay to the Academy of Moral and Political Sciences the previous year. Sraffa 6240; Walker 103. b) Équations de la capitalisation. Mémoire lu à la société vaudoise des sciences naturelles (Séance du 5 juillet 1876). Extrait du Bulletin de la Soc. Vaud. des Sciences naturelles. -2e S. Vol. XV. No 77. Lausanne: L. Corbaz et Comp., 1876. Pp. [4], 525-64. Contents evenly browned and a little brittle, a few chips to fore-edge of half-titleand a few other leaves. Original offprint, retaining the original pagination, with the erroneous title page statement (it actually appeared in volume XIV). There is some debate as to the date of the essay—the Bulletin article is dated a year later, 1877—and it is quite possible that the tirage à part was published before the essay's appearance in the journal. Sraffa 6242; Walker 122. c) Equations de l'echange. Equations de la production. Mémoires lus à la société Vaudoise des sciences naturelles (Séances des 1er et 15 décembre 1875, 19 janvier et 16 février 1876). Extrait du Bulletin de la Société Vaudoise des Sciences naturelles. Lausanne: Allenspach fils, 1876. Pp. [2], 365-430 (separately paginated 1-66). A few nicks to upper leaf edges. Original offprint, retaining the original pagination and separate pagination, followed by a second offprint of Equations de la production. Sraffa 6241; Walker 118, 119. d) Théorie mathématique du bimétallisme. (Extraits du Journal des Économistes de Décembre 1876 et Mai 1881). Paris: Librairie de Guillaumin et Cie, 1881. Pp. [3], 4-16, 1 folding plate. Light vertical crease where previously folded, Royal Statistical Society stamp to heaf of title. First separate edition, a pamphlet in two parts: the first, a reprinting of Walras's "Note sur le 15 1/2 légal", and the second, a reprinting of his article on bimetallism. Walras was the first economist to work out the complete theory of the bimetallist standard at a fixed ratio. Sraffa 6243; Walker 153. e) De la fixité de valeur de l'étalon monétaire. Extrait du Journal des Economistes, no. d'octobre 1882. [Paris: printed by A. Parent & A Davy, 1882.] Pp. [1], 2-8, 1 folding plate. Light vertical crease from folding. Original offprint, separately paginated. Walker 158. f) D'une méthode de régularisation de la variation de valeur de la monnaie. Contribution à l'étude des variations des prix depuis la suspension de la frappe des écus d'argent. Mémoires lus à la Société Vaudoise des Sciences naturelles, les 6 mai et 3 juin 1885. (Extrait du Bulletin, vol. XXI, no. 92). Lausanne: Corbaz & Comp., 1885. Pp. [2], 22; 11, [1], 1 folding plate. Vertical crease where folded, Royal Statistical Society stamp at head of first leaf. First separate edition, the second co-authored with Alfred Simon, both articles republished after their original appearance in the Bulletin in August 1885. Sraffa 6254; Walker 166, 167. g) Théorie de la monnaie. Lausanne: Corbaz & cie., 1886. Pp. [V], VI-XII, [3], 4-123, [1], 4 folding plates. A few neat marginal annotations in pencil. First edition. Einaudi 5973; Mattioli 3804; Sraffa 6245; Walker 169. h) De l'échange de plusieurs marchandises entre elles. Extrait des mémoires de la Société des iIgénieurs civils (Janvier 1891). Paris: Cité Rougement, 1891. Pp. [3], 4-9, [1], 1 plate. Edges of title page browned, Royal Statistical Society stamp at head of title. Original offprint, separately paginated, with the title leaf and plate not included in the Société's journal. Sraffa 6247; Walker 179. i) Théorie mathématique du billet de banque. Pp. 553-92, 1 plate. [May 1880.] Vertical crease where previously folded, Royal Statistical Society stamp at head of first leaf. First edition, read to the Société on 19 November 1879. Walker 148. j) Théorie mathématique du prix des terres et de leur rachat par l'État. [June 1881.] Pp. 189-284, [1], 1 folding plate. First edition. Walker 154. A substantial pamphlet volume encompassing some of Walras's most characteristic work on general equilibrium theory and its effect on currency in the wake of his pioneering work, Éléments d'économie politique pure (1874). 10 works bound in 1 volume, octavo. Later green cloth, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, yellow endpapers, edges uncut. Manuscript contents leaf pasted to front free endpaper verso in black and red ink plus several section division leaves in manuscript. Housed in a green quarter morocco solander box by the Chelsea Bindery. A number of folding plates. From the library of the Royal Statistical Society of London, with a label to front pastedown and their stamps occasionally to contents, with a few neat pencil annotations to the text. Spine rolled, ends bumped with some short snags at head, extremities lightly rubbed, hinges gently cracked but firm, a few nicks to upper edge of first leaf, half-title a little loose, some pamphlets evenly browned, overall a very good volume. Théorie de la monnaie (Lausanne: Corbaz & cie., 1886): Einaudi 5973; Mattioli 3804; Sraffa 6245; Walker 169. See Donald A. Walker, Walrasian Economics (Cambridge University Press, 2006).