Cantillon In French And English. Two Editions By Richard Van Den Berg And Antoin E. Murphy: New Facts And Hypotheses

The publication of a critical edition by Richard van den Berg (RvdB) of Richard Cantillon's famous 1755 Essai sur la nature du commerce en général, which provides a remarkably detailed comparison between this French text and various English counterparts by Malachy Postlethwayt and Philip Cantillon (and much more), has led to this article. Its publication almost coincided with the appearance of a new translation of the Essai in English, by Antoin E. Murphy (AEM). The first part of this article is a review of the new editions, which leads to new evidence and questions on Philip Cantillon's book. Its second part revisits the findings of Tsuda and Murphy to prove by methods borrowed from another field, the History of the Book, the long suspected involvement of Jacques Claude Marie Vincent de Gournay (1712–1759) in the publication of the Essai. Little known aspects of Cantillon's influence on other economists1—notably on members of the Gournay circle2—will be discussed . Additional details will also be provided on the interest in the Essai of the Société de Bretagne, 3 and it will be suggested that the latter's reaction to Postlethwayt's Dictionary may have led to important works of Quesnay and Morellet.