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Wealth of Nations, Harvard copy with Rogers notes

Adam Smith, with notes by James Edwin Thorold Rogers

A digitised Harvard University copy of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, including notes by James Edwin Thorold Rogers.

This digitised Harvard copy preserves Smith's own economic writing for modern readers.

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Almost entirely black image, likely the dark cover of a bound book. A faint lighter edge runs along the right side and a thin strip of the book's spine or page edge is visible at the left.
Adam Smith, An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Harvard University copy, digitized by Google/Internet Archive.

About this source

What it is

This is a digitised copy of Adam Smith's An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, held in Harvard University's library and including editorial material by James Edwin Thorold Rogers. It was scanned by Google and uploaded to the Internet Archive.

Why it matters

Smith's book laid out ideas about trade, production and markets that shaped economic thinking. The survival of copies in major university libraries, later scanned for wide access, shows how his work has remained central to studying economics for centuries.

Look closer

  • Why do you think a university library would keep and later digitise an old economics book?
  • What topics does the subject list (trade, revenue, price, quantity) suggest the book covers?
  • What is lost when we see only a dark photo of the cover instead of the pages inside?

This book 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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Title page of An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, by Adam Smith, LL.D. and F.R.S., formerly Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. In two volumes, Vol. I. London, printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell, in the Strand, MDCCLXXVI.Book

Primary source

The Wealth of Nations

Adam Smith · 1776

Scan of the title page of the 1759 first edition of The Theory of Moral Sentiments by Adam Smith, Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Glasgow. Centered ornament below. Imprint reads London: Printed for A. Millar, in the Strand, and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh, MDCCLIX.Book

Primary source

The Theory of Moral Sentiments

Adam Smith · 1759

Black and white engraving of a standing man in profile wearing a tricorn hat, powdered wig, and long buttoned coat, holding a cane, beside a round table with books and an inkstand. Bookshelves and a checkered floor are behind him. Caption below reads 'The Author of the Wealth of Nations'. Signed 'RAY' and dated 1790 at lower left.Painting

Primary source

Adam Smith, 1790

John Kay · 1790

Oil painting of a man in a powdered white wig and dark high-collared coat with blue-tinged shading, turned to the left, against a dark brown background. He has a slight closed-mouth expression.Painting

Secondary source

The Muir Portrait of Adam Smith

Unknown · c. 1790

Evening photo of Panmure House, a stone building with lit windows and a glass-fronted entrance at street level, with a sign reading Adam Smith's Panmure House. Dusk sky, paved street in foreground.Artifact

Primary source

Panmure House

1691-1693 (built); Smith resided 1778-1790

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