The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty
The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty is a book with texts, written by William Petty (1623-1687), and published in 1899 by Charles Henry Hull (1864-1936), in two volumes. The "Economic Writings" were published together with an introduction about the life and work of William Petty, and did also contain "Natural and Political Observations upon the Bills of Mortality," by John Graunt. This edition of the economic texts of William Petty, the scientist, who is often been called the founder of political economy, is used as a reference work ever since  its publication. Apart from the extensive collection of written publications by William Petty (and John Graunt), the general introduction to the life and work of Petty and Graunt, and the short introductions to the separate texts, it also contained the first extensive bibliography of the writings of Petty and Graunt. Bibliographical information. in 2 vols. (411 + 412 pgs.) The book has been reprinted several times, for instance in 1963/4, in 1986 and in the "Collected Works" of 1997. Volume 1. Vol. 1 contains: Volume 2. Vol. 2 of "The Economic Writings of Sir William Petty" contains: Introduction(s) by Charles  Henry Hull. The book opens with an 'Introduction' by the editor, Charles Henry Hull, which gives biographic information on Petty and Graunt, and an extensive recapitulation of the debate concerning the authorship of the "Observations upon the Bills of Mortality". The biography of Petty (p. xiii- xxxiii) is among many other sources, based on some early publications, like the "Athenae Oxoniensis" by Anthony Wood (published 1691), Petty's will, first published in the "Tracts relating chiefly to Ireland" (first published 1769), the "Brief Lives" of John Aubrey, on Petty's "History of the Down Survey" (published 1851 by Thomas Aiskew  Larcom for the Irish Archaeological Society) and on the "Life of Sir William Petty 1623 - 1687" by Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice (published 1895). The second section of the 'Introduction' (p. xxxiv-xxxviii) gives a short biography of John Graunt, the author of the "Observations upon the Bills of Mortality" (first published 1662). Hull spends quite some space on a detailed investigation of "the authorship of the "Observations upon the Bills of Mortality"". There are certain grounds for assigning the authorship of the "Observations" to William Petty. Some contemporaries of Petty have given rise to the idea that Petty was the author , like John Evelyn, John Aubrey, Edmund Halley and Bishop Gilbert Burnet. But there are also a number of contemporary testimonies in favour of Graunt. In the first place by Petty himself, in two letters to Sir Robert Southwell, but also by Sir Peter Pett. The final conclusion of Hull is that Graunt was definitely the author of the "Observations". After a short section on Petty's letters and other manuscripts, the 'Introduction' gives an overview of the whole body of economic writings of Petty. The 'Introduction' finishes with two sections on Graunt and the (London) Bills of Mortality. Most of  the separate texts in the "Economic Writings" also have an introduction by Hull. About the economic writings of Petty. A year after the publication of "The Economic Writings", in 1900, in an article in "The Quarterly Journal of Economics" entitled 'Petty's Place in the History of Economic Theory', Hull proposed a division of the economic writings of Petty in three 'chronological' groups: Critical reception. Soon after the publication of "The Economic Writings" a couple of reviews were written. James Laurence Laughlin published a short review in the "Journal of Political Economy" in 1899, in which he wrote that Hull 's edition of Petty's writings "is done with an erudition, accuracy, intelligence, and thoroughness which leave nothing to be desired."