The Fable of the Bees: or, private vices, public benefits. The second edition, enlarged with many additions. As also An Essay on Charity and Charity-Schools. And a Search into the Nature of Society. MANDEVILLE (Bernard).

Second edition, revised. 8vo. [8], 428, [11, index and errata], [1, blank] pp. Contemporary speckled calf, spine with five single raised bands outlined in gilt, covers with blind and gilt roll-tool borders, red sprinkled edges (some occasional browning, contents otherwise generally quite clean; light rubbing to edges, head of spine just chipped, faint ring stain to front cover). London, printed for Edmund Parker at the Bible and Crown in Lombard-Street. A most attractive copy of the revised second edition of the first part of Mandeville's Fable of the Bees, a highly controversial work that posited, by way of a parable of the bee-hive, that Christian asceticism runs contrary to the proper functioning of the economy and social order and that, in contrast, private interest begets public benefits. 'Mandeville was, in some important respects, an early advocate of laissez-faire (although this advocacy did not extend to foreign trade, where Mandeville?s views were still distinctly Mercantilist). He articulated a vision of the role of the division of labour in society, and of the forces making for social change and evolution, as well as for social cohesion, that were in many respects distinctly precocious, and that exercised a powerful influence in shaping the intellectual agenda of economists and other social scientists later in the 18th century' (New Palgrave). The work originated as a poem titled The Grumbling Hive published as a pamphlet in 1705, before Mandeville expanded the text into a book-length work published under the title The Fable of the Bees in 1714, making further revisions in subsequent editions. The second part was not published until 1729. The present edition is the one that Mandeville revised most closely - and the one that brought him to the attention of the moralists, and elevated him to the status of contemporary antichrist. The text is greatly enlarged, with five of the important Remarks (which actually occupy the greater part of the book) being new or completely revised. Also added to this edition are Mandeville's Essay on Charity, and Charity Schools (pp. 285-370) and A Search into the nature of Society (pp. 371-428). This is also the first edition to contain an index. Provenance: early engraved armorial bookplate of 'Ph. Honywood' - very likely either Sir Philip Honywood (1677-1752) or his nephew and heir, also Philip (1710-85): both were distinguished army officers, and the latter became an MP. Goldsmiths' 6178; Kress, 3520.