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Sir William Petty: A Study in English Economic Literature
title page
AuthorWilson Lloyd Bevan
CountryUnited States
Languageen
SeriesPublication of the American Economic Association
Release number
vol. IX, no. 4
SubjectHistory of Economic Thought
PublisherAmerican Economic Association
Publication date
1894
Pages1-102
OCLC615596640
TextSir William Petty: A Study in English Economic Literature at Wikisource

Sir William Petty: A Study in English Economic Literature was a text, first written by Wilson Lloyd Bevan as (part of) a dissertation[1] and next published in 1894 as a volume of the Publications of the American Economic Association. It was one of the first attempts to write a monograph on William Petty (1623-1687).

Bibliographical information[edit]

Bevan, Wilson Lloyd (1894). "Sir William Petty: A Study in English Economic Literature" . Publication of the American Economic Association. IX (4): 1–102. OCLC 615596640 – via Wikisource.

In 1893 Bevan had already published an essay, as a part of his dissertation, when he was studying in Münich:
Bevan, Wilson Lloyd (1893). Sir William Petty : a dissertation presented to the Faculty of Political Science of the University of Munich. Canterbury: J.A. Jennings, "City Printing Works". OCLC 55584513.
This was a small book of 32 pages, containing a biography of Sir William Petty. etc.

The 1894 publication was reviewed by Charles Henry Hull (two times, in 1895 and in 1896) and by Henry Higgs, in 1895.

Contents[edit]

The first chapter of Bevan's 1894 publication consists of "Materials for Petty's Biography: The Will, and Aubrey's Life of Petty." They hold copies of:

  • Petty's will, dated May 2, 1685, as printed in the so-called Tracts; chiefly relating to Ireland of 1769.
  • the 'Life of Petty' as printed in Letters of Eminent Persons (nowadays mostly called Brief Lives) by John Aubrey (London 1813, vol. II, pp. 481-491).[2]

The next chapter holds notes on the texts in the preceding chapter. Some of the notes are extensive, for instance the note on Petty's whereabouts in Ireland and the note on Petty's activities after his retirement from public life.

Chapter III deals with "The Tractate on Education and the Bills of Mortality". With the "Tractate on Education" is meant The Advice of W(illiam) P(etty) to Mr. Samuel Hartlib for the Advancement of some particular Parts of Learning, written by Petty and published in 1647. The first part of the chapter provides a summary of Petty's pamphlet. The largest part of the chapter is devoted to the question of the authorship of the Natural and Political Observations Made upon the Bills of Mortality (by Bevan shortly titled as the "Bills of Mortality"). Although many authorities like McCulloch[3], Roscher, John, Cunningham and De Morgan assign the authorship of the book to John Graunt, Bevan thinks there are good reasons for assigning Petty as the author.[4]

In Chapter IV an extract of some of the important elements of Petty's A Treatise of Taxes & Contributions is given, under the title 'Land-Labour-Value-Rent'.[5] The comparison of England with Holland on one side and Ireland on the other has an important place. Holland is good situated at the mouth of three large rivers, has relatively little plowing or sowing of corn or breeding of cattle and has a large share in foreign trade. Ireland is undeveloped, because the Irish people has few necessities, and is not prepared for trade. In this chapter a very short summary of Petty's theoretical notions on value and rent is also given.

Chapter V is about 'Money and Taxation'.

Critical reception[edit]

In 1895 Bevan's publication was reviewed by Charles Henry Hull in Political Science Quarterly v.10 n.2 (1895) OCLC 5545332136

In 1896 Hull wrote a review of Bevan's Sir William Petty in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.[6] The largest part of the review is devoted to the latter. Concerning Bevan Hull writes that his analysis of Petty's economic notions is "somewhat scrappy."[7]

In 1895 Henry Higgs published a review of Sir William Petty in The Economic Journal.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/2956227

He was not very enthousiastic about Bevan's essay. Bevan better would have put what he had to say "into a magazine article, or even a dictionary article" (p. 71).

Cunow (see: Life of Sir William)

References[edit]

  1. ^ Roncaglia 1985, p. 17: "a long study, originally a doctoral thesis".
  2. ^ See e.g. the "Andrew Clark" edition of 1898, pag. 139 – 150.
  3. ^ McCulloch, J.R. (1845) – Literature of Political Economy. On (the authorship of) the "Observations upon the Bills of Mortality", see p. 271.
  4. ^ On the authorship of the "Bills of Mortality" see wikisource logo 'The Authorship of the "Observations upon the Bills of Mortality",' part of the 'Introduction' to The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty (Charles Henry Hull ed., 1899).
  5. ^ Citations in chapter IV are mainly from: collected edition of Petty's works, Dublin, 1769 (see p. 53).
  6. ^ The review by Hull of Bevan's Sir William Petty was published in Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 7, issue 1, 1896, together with a review of Life of Sir William Petty 1623 - 1687 by Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice (1895). (Hull 1896)
  7. ^ Hull 1896, p. 128.

Bibliography[edit]

  • Roncaglia, Alessandro (1985). Petty. The Origins of Political Economy. Translated by Isabella Cherubini. Cardiff etc: University College Cardiff Press. ISBN 0-906449-91-X. (translation of Petty: la nascita dell' economia politica,1977)

External link[edit]

  • wikisource
  • text of Bevan's Sir William Petty in the Archive for the History of Economic Thought of McMaster University.