Discurso sobre el fomento de la industria popular.

Madrid, En la Imprenta de D. Antonio de Sancha, 1774. (8), 198 pp. (Roman numbering). 8vo. Contemporary half calf, corners, marbled boards, red label with gilt lettering (somewhat rubbed, sides somewhat shaved). Kress 6998; Goldsmiths 11127; Einaudi 821; Higgs 5957; not in Colmeiro. First edition of this important book of which Venturi wrote: 'one of the fundamental books of the Spanish Enlightenment' (F. Venturi, Italy and the Enlightenment. Studies in a Cosmopolitan Century, p. 274). 'Pedro Rodriguez de Campomanes (1723-1802), an eminent Spanish jurist, economist and statesman. As a member of the group of enlightened ministers who gave lustre to the reign of Charles III, he laboured for the reform of taxation, the promotion of agriculture and manufactures, the diffusion of education and the adaptation of Spanish institutions to the needs of the age. Eminently upright and disinterested, he was one of the foremost benefactors of his country. His theoretic views and practical efforts strikingly resemble those of his illustrious contemporary Turgot' (Palgrave, i, p. 208). 'A man of wide culture and great ability, he tried his hand, both in office and out of it, on the great economic problems of his time and country. Of his writings, the one most relevant to our purpose is his Discurso sobre el fomento de la industria popular, which was to move McCulloch to fervent eulogy.' 'They (Campomanes and Jovellanos) were practical reformers in the line of economic liberalism, and neither bothered about nor contributed to the progress of analysis. But they understood the economic process better than did many a theorist. And, in view of the date of Campomanes Discurso (1774) it is not without interest to observe how little, if anything, he stood to learn from the Wealth of Nations' (Schumpeter, p. 172-173 and note). The Discurso sobre al fomento .... and the Discurso sobre la Educacion Popular .... 'are intended to show the dignity and importance of arts and manufactures; the patronage to which they are entitled; the drawbacks under which they laboured in Spain from corporation priviliges and vicious taxes and regulations; and the many advantages that would result from the systematic and judicious training of those engaged in them' (McCulloch, p. 361). - The first 7 leaves have been bound in reversed order. A good copy of a scarce and important work.