BOESNIER DE L'ORME (Paul). On the spirit of economic governm - Lot 309

Lot 309
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BOESNIER DE L'ORME (Paul). On the spirit of economic governm - Lot 309
BOESNIER DE L'ORME (Paul). On the spirit of economic government. Paris, Delalain, 1775. In-8, marbled basane, smooth spine decorated, red title, red edges (Binding of the time). INED, n°549. Very rare first edition of the main work of the author, one of the physiocrats precursors of Malthus. The economist Boesnier de L'Orme (1724-1793), who was a private master of Water and Forests of the Generalitat of Orleans, gives a faithful summary of the doctrine of Quesnay's school: property rights, agriculture as the source of all wealth, freedom of trade, etc. One finds in his book a conception of the economic optimum, perhaps the best expressed here than anywhere else: A people more or less numerous, than its position allows, would not be as happy as it should be either. [...] A people that is too numerous would be exposed to a lack of subsistence; a people that is not numerous enough would lack the means that constitute strength and wealth. The happiness of the people therefore presupposes the middle ground between these two extremes; & it alone determines the only view worthy of an enlightened Government (p. 54) (cf. Alfred Sauvy, "Deux techniciens précurseurs de Malthus : Boesnier de L'Orme et Auxiron" in Population, 1955, n°4, pp. 691-704). Handwritten bookplate on the title: ex-libris De Milly, accompanied by a glued butterfly bearing a woodcut coat of arms (eighteenth century, blazon of azure with three fleurs-de-lis and a perished baton in bar). Some foxing. Binding very restored.
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