£475.00
Wallace, William. Dissertation historique et politique sur la population des anciens temps, comparée avec celle du nôtre. Amsterdam; Paris: Rozet, 1769.
French translation.
Single volume.
Contemporary calf, later reinforcement and shelf markings.
Age-toning and light wear; institutional stamps and marks.
Year: 1769
Edition: revised and expanded.
Publisher: Amsterdam; Paris: Chez Rozet, Libraire, 1769, Amsterdam, 1769
A French translation of William Wallace’s influential examination of population in the ancient world, printed in 1769. The work enters directly into one of the century’s most animated debates: whether modern societies had declined or advanced in demographic strength compared with classical antiquity.
Wallace’s argument, engaging explicitly with the political thought of David Hume, became part of the wider conversation that later shaped early demographic theory and political economy. Books of this kind formed the working library of statesmen, reformers, and philosophes across Europe.
This copy shows the typical traces of institutional preservation, with stamps and shelf evidence attesting to its long residence within a formal collection.
Debates on population stood at the foundation of Enlightenment political arithmetic and the emergence of modern economic thinking. Wallace’s engagement with Hume places the work squarely within the mainstream of eighteenth-century intellectual exchange. Examples now surface mainly from institutional deaccessions and are becoming harder to secure in trade.
