Early Essays on Economic Theory c. 1867–74

Abstract

It appears that between 1869 and 1873, Marshall committed to paper his first systematic account of the views he was forming about the central questions of economic theory. The manuscripts reproduced here belong to that phase. Their exact purpose remains uncertain: they do not seem to have been written for immediate publication, but are more formal than lecture notes. Most probably they were working drafts, designed to serve eventually as the basis for a more comprehensive and elaborate essay or treatise. But doubtless they were also read by favoured students like Foxwell, Cunynghame or J. N. Keynes,¹ and so helped to forward the early propagation of Marshall’s views and claims to originality.²