Rare Adam Smith first edition on sale for £50k

A rare first edition copy of Adam Smith’s The Wealth Of Nations with a value of up to £50,000 is to be sold at auction today.

Simon Vickers looks at a first edition of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. Picture: PA

First published in 1776, the book’s full title is An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes Of The Wealth Of Nations and explores issues such as the division of labour, productivity and free markets.

The work by Scottish economist and philosopher Smith reflects on economics at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and is one of the world’s first assessments of what creates wealth within a nation.

The Wealth Of Nations, as it is commonly known, helped earn its Fife-born author the label of the father of modern economics and continues to be held in high regard.

Adam Smith was an important figure in the Scottish Enlightenment and is considered by many to be both a great moral philosopher and pioneer of political economy.

He was born in Kirkcaldy where he later returned to write The Wealth of Nations over a period of 10 years.

This first edition copy has been valued at between £30,000 and £50,000 and will go under the hammer at auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh.

It will be lot 287 in the sale, Rare Books, Maps & Manuscripts, scheduled to begin at 11am.