Adam Smith Online

eBookMall publishes Adam Smith’s books online at reasonable prices (HERE)

It’s blurb says that “Adam Smith is the author of Adam Smith: The Theory of Moral Sentiments, An Inquiry Into The Nature And Causes Of The Wealth Of Nations, Harvard Classics, Vol. 10: Wealth of Nations, and more...”.

Comment
Clearly I do not do commercial endorsements (at least without a fee!) but looking through the various editions of Adam Smith in the list I am impressed at the selection of a couple and the prices.

The most expensive ($30.80) is Knud Haakonssen’s edition of Adam Smith’s Moral Sentiments, but the editorial work by Professor Haakonssen is of the highest standard. He is a distinguished Smithian scholar on Smith’s moral philosophy.

The Harvard Classics, Vol. 10: Wealth of Nations, albeit abridged version readable on these platforms at 98c Windows PC, Palm, Pocket PC, Windows Mobile, SymbianOS, Blackberry, iLiad, eBookMan, may be a good-buy, though its blurb, presumably written by a publisher’s assistant describing it as: ‘The first complete system of political economy by the articulator of laissez-faire capitalism’, is somewhat off-putting for a scholarly reader.

A Microsoft reader version of Wealth Of Nations at $4.95 for Windows 98+, Tablet PC, and Pocket PC 2003 platforms, at 2MB, with no editorial details may be worth the cash. It promises ‘ClearType, advanced navigation, search, personal library, bookmarks, notes, and drawing.’

There is less doubt about the quality of the editorial work in the 2-volume edition of Wealth Of Nations that is edited by Andrew Skinner (formerly Adam Smith Professor at Glasgow University – where Adam Smith taught from 1751-64) in two volumes, originally published in print form by Penguin.

In my view, this is the best edition of Smith’s classic since the publication of the Glasgow Edition of the Works and Correspondence of Adam Smith, published in 1976 by Oxford University Press (and available at popular prices from Liberty Press, Indiana), to which Andrew Skinner was a co-editor and made important editorial contributions too. Both volumes contain excellent editorial introductions by Andrew Skinner which are authoritative in content.

It’s available in All Palm & Pocket PC handheld devices plus all Windows and Macintosh computers, price $15.60 each for volume I (Books I-111) and $18.00 for volume II (Books IV and V).

Check out the website for details of the other versions and to order your downloads.

Postscript:

TAL reports in the comments that Liberty Fund editions of the Glasgow Edition of Wealth Of Nations are free for downloads - it gets better with this news.