This book can be described as a development of my Masters thesis, 'The Economics of A. R. J. Turgot' written at the University of Sydney in 1961-62. It has therefore been a long time in the making and, needless to say, I in­ curred many an intellectual debt during this period which I would like to acknowledge here. My thanks go first to Professor J. R. Wilson, who super­ vised my Masters thesis and who read part of this manuscript in draft, to the late Professor Jacob Viner whose tremendous knowledge of the history of economics was put at my disposal on several occasions, and to Professor R. L. Meek with whom I discussed this work in conversation and cor­ respondence and who has given assistance in several other ways. I also owe a great debt of gratitude to a large number of librarians for their assistance in unearthing infrequently used material housed in the collections over which they preside. In particular, I wish to acknowledge thanks to the librarians of the Fisher Library at the University of Sydney, the Public Library of New South Wales, the Australian National Library, the British Library of Economics and Political Science, the British Museum, the Goldsmiths' Library at the University of London, the Kress Collection at the Baker Library at Harvard, the Seligman Collection at the Butler Library at Columbia University, and the Bibliotheque nationale.