Malthus (T. R.) An Essay on the Principle of Population or a View of Its Past and Present Effects on Human Happiness..., 2 vol., first American edition, half-titles, damp-staining, modern calf with black spine labels, endpapers renewed, 8vo, Washington City, 1809.

⁂ A foundational text of modern economics.

Malthus sought to demonstrate that while the population of a community increases geometrically, food supplies increase only arithmetically. As a result, various "checks" emerge - which Malthus classified as either "vice" or "misery" - to keep the population from outstripping the food supply. These include wars, famines, plagues, delayed marriages, prostitution, and contraception. This relationship of food supply to population growth and the necessity of these checks, Malthus argued, meant that the perfectibility of society was not possible. Although much of his argument was based upon pre-industrial conditions, this work has provided a starting point for any discussion of overpopulation since its publication. Garrison-Morton 1693.