First edition. Small 8vo. x, 168 pp. Original red cloth, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, single blind fillet border to covers (occasional faint spotting, creasing from old fold to upper corners of pp. 11-26; the cloth remains notably bright with just a hint of light wear to tips of spine and corners, a very good copy). London, C.J. Clay and Sons, 1904.
A critical account of the history of the free trade movement by the Scottish clergyman and economist William Cunningham (1849-1919), ‘one of the important pioneers in economic history’ (New Palgrave). ‘Cunningham shifted from an internationalist and free trader to a nationalist and protectionist, making the preservation and strengthening of the nation-state his most weighty political and economic objective. By the time of the fiscal controversy in 1903 he fully endorsed the tariff reform movement and subscribed to imperialism, with the great empire securing peace and order’ (New Palgave).
