Ian Ehling
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Lot 24
SMITH, ADAM. 1723-1790. Investigacion de la naturaleza y causas de la riqueza de las naciones. Valladolid: Viuda e Hijos de Santander, 1794.
6 March 2020, 10:00 EST
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SMITH, ADAM. 1723-1790.
Investigacion de la naturaleza y causas de la riqueza de las naciones. Valladolid: Viuda e Hijos de Santander, 1794.
4 volumes. 8vo (195 x 134 mm). Half-title in first volume (all called for). Contemporary Spanish marbled sheep, green and red morocco lettering pieces. Minor foxing, small contiguous worming to inner margin of volume 2 (pp 49-240); small hole to outer margin of title page, volume 3.
FIRST EDITION IN SPANISH OF WEALTH OF NATIONS. The 1794 Spanish publication was made possible by the efforts of the translator, Josef Alonso Ortiz, who adds an appendix on the Spanish National Bank in volume 2. The French translation of Wealth of Nations had been placed on the Inquisition's Index of Prohibited Books, so when Ortiz presented his Spanish translation to the Inquisition in 1793, he did so with extreme care. Noting that his translation was from the English edition (which was not on the Index), Ortiz further argued that he had purged "it of various impious proposals ... and eliminating entirely an article ... in which the author favors tolerance on points of religion, so that it stands cleansed of anything that could lead to error or relaxation in moral and religious matters." He had to submit the manuscript twice, but eventually he managed to publish his translation with government permission in 1794, establishing the influential translation that would stand as the only Spanish translation for 150 years. See R.S. Smith, "The Wealth of Nations in Spain and Hispanic America, 1780-1830," Journal of Political Economy, 65(2), (1957), pp 104-125. Goldsmiths' 15932. Tribe 53.
4 volumes. 8vo (195 x 134 mm). Half-title in first volume (all called for). Contemporary Spanish marbled sheep, green and red morocco lettering pieces. Minor foxing, small contiguous worming to inner margin of volume 2 (pp 49-240); small hole to outer margin of title page, volume 3.
FIRST EDITION IN SPANISH OF WEALTH OF NATIONS. The 1794 Spanish publication was made possible by the efforts of the translator, Josef Alonso Ortiz, who adds an appendix on the Spanish National Bank in volume 2. The French translation of Wealth of Nations had been placed on the Inquisition's Index of Prohibited Books, so when Ortiz presented his Spanish translation to the Inquisition in 1793, he did so with extreme care. Noting that his translation was from the English edition (which was not on the Index), Ortiz further argued that he had purged "it of various impious proposals ... and eliminating entirely an article ... in which the author favors tolerance on points of religion, so that it stands cleansed of anything that could lead to error or relaxation in moral and religious matters." He had to submit the manuscript twice, but eventually he managed to publish his translation with government permission in 1794, establishing the influential translation that would stand as the only Spanish translation for 150 years. See R.S. Smith, "The Wealth of Nations in Spain and Hispanic America, 1780-1830," Journal of Political Economy, 65(2), (1957), pp 104-125. Goldsmiths' 15932. Tribe 53.