Theorie de l'Impot;

[No place: no printer,], 1760 & 1761. OF REAL IMPORTANCE IN THE HISTORY OF FINANCIAL THEORY" - a BEAUTIFUL COPY First edition of both works, pairing Mirabeau's Théorie de l'Impôt, his spirited and able attack upon the financial administration of France, especially the "fermiers généraux", whom Mirabeau regarded as parasites preying upon the vitals of the nation, with Pesselier's counterattack, notable for its terse affirmation of the characteristically Physiocratic doctrine that agriculture holds a privileged place in the economic system. Mirabeau's work highlights the problems and injustices of the French system of taxation and added fuel to the coming fire of the revolution. The king disapproved of the work; Mirabeau was imprisoned on 16 December 1760 but was released on Christmas Eve through the efforts of Madame de Pompadour and others, under orders to leave Paris for his estate at Bignon. The work proposes a reorganization of financial administrative machinery, the abolition of the "fermes", a reduction in the taxation upon salt, with the object of increasing the total yield, and a special tax upon tobacco farms. The domaine, the post, and the mint were to be further sources of revenue. Mirabeau ranks as one of the earliest important writers on taxation. Higgs notes that the book is "of real importance in the history of financial theory" (The Physiocrats, p. 57). Pesselier was one of the most forceful critics of the physiocrats. Of the products of the soil, Pesselier here writes, "Elles procurent un profit net et durable puisqu'elles sont à l'abri de l'imitation" ("They provide a net and lasting profit since they are safe from imitation"). Two works bound in a single vol., quarto (255 x 193 mm). Contemporary French mottled calf, spine decorated gilt in compartments, red morocco label, marbled endpapers. Housed in a brown morocco-backed book-form case. Engraved armorial bookplate to front pastedown. Lower edge a little rubbed, with corners worn, very occasional spotting; very good copies. Mirabeau: Einaudi 3946; Goldsmiths' 9602; Higgs 2297; INED 3209; Kress 5883. Pesselier: Brunet I, 1118; Einaudi 4409; Goldsmiths' 9695; Higgs 2534; INED 3524; Kress 5964.