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Table of Wheat Prices from Recherches sur la nature et les causes de la richesse des nations

Adam Smith · 1843

A table of historical wheat prices from an 1843 French translation of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations.

A page from a French translation of Smith's own economic treatise, showing his use of historical price data.

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Scanned French table of wheat prices per quarter over 12-year divisions, with columns for pounds, shillings and pence, average prices of different years, and average price per year in current money. Left division VIe covers 1499 to 1560 with a total and average row; right division VIIe covers 1561 to 1601 with a total and average row.
Adam Smith (trans. Germain Garnier and Auguste Blanqui), Recherches sur la nature et les causes de la richesse des nations, Tome 1, 1843.

About this source

What it is

This is a scanned table from Volume 1 of an 1843 French translation of Adam Smith's economic treatise, translated by Auguste Blanqui with Germain Garnier.

The table lists wheat prices per quarter across two twelve-year periods, from 1499 to 1560 and 1561 to 1601, showing prices in pounds, shillings, and pence along with averages.

Why it matters

This table reflects Smith's use of historical economic data to support his arguments in The Wealth of Nations. Because it comes from a translation rather than the English original, it also shows how Smith's work spread across language and borders in the 19th century.

Look closer

  • Why might Smith have included detailed historical price data like this in his economic arguments?
  • What does the existence of a French translation tell you about the international influence of Smith's ideas?
  • What might be lost or changed when a text is translated from English into French?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Adam Smith on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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