An Essay Upon Ways and Means Of Supplying the War.
London: Printed for Jacob Tonson, 1695. First edition, 8vo, (iv), 160 pp. Folding table with a couple of closed marginal tears, marbled endpapers. 19th century dark green half morocco, marbled sides, rather darkened, rebacked retaining almost all of the original backstrip. The oldest son of the poet and playwright William, Davenant initially worked as an excise officer before losing his post after James II's death. While employed by the East India Company he published his "first major work... which established him as an important commentator on financial and economic questions... he adumbrated in characteristically clear... that England could most easily become wealthy and powerful by expanding overseas trade, that the burdens of the war upon landed society should be just and proportionate... and that the excise rather than debt or customs duties was the best means of finding large amounts of extraordinary revenue." (ODNB). Wing D311. Item #49551
Price: £350.00