On Population by Thomas Robert Malthus 1960 Modern Library Philosophical History books

This is a very good hardcover, NO dust jacket, jacket missing. 1960 Modern Library. This copy is very good inside and out. The inside pages are very clean with only a hint of light natural tanning from age. The binding is tight and straight. Green hardcover boards are also very good with only very light shelf wear. Title and Modern Library logo front and gold lettering along spine. 12mo book sizes or 5" x 7.5" with 602 pages including index. Illustrated endpapers front and back w Modern Library logo. Top page edges tipped (or stained as published) in dark green.

Modern Library began publishing series of books in 1917. They were extremely popular, especially with students, as they were copies of great literature and topics that were priced for the general public. The publishing firm of Boni Liveright started the series, as the idea stemmed from Albert Boni. The first title published was The Picture of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde. Early editions were published in "pocket book" size for easy carrying to read anywhere and they were bound in leatherette. Boni & Liveright was sold in 1925 and transformed into Modern Library. In 1927, Random House was borne out of Modern Library and pictorial dust jackets were introduced to the series, along with hardcover boards. As publishing changed, Modern Library fell to the wayside but was "reintroduced" in the 1970's. Early editions are collectibles and later titles remain favorites as many collect Modern Library editions of all ages.

This title is On Population by Thomas Robert Malthus. The full title is An Essay on the Principle of Population. The book argues that struggles for resources occur when population increases geometrically while food production increases arithmetically. He proposed that the cycle is disrupted with war, famine, etc which keep food supplies from being depleted. The idea was controversial and with the onset of the Industrial Revolution and technology advances in agriculture his ideas seemed to be proven wrong. But, was he right and will those advances prove the solution in the long run.

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