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3 Publishing History
There were five editions of The Wealth of Nations published during Smith's lifetime; specifically, in the years 1776, 1778, 1784, 1786, and 1789. Numerous editions appear after Smith's death in 1790. Under the direction of Edwin Cannan , the first five editions were compared, and the differences were published along with the an edited fifth edition in 1904 (see An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, London: Methuen and Co., Ltd., ed. Edwin Cannan, 1904. Fifth edition.) There were minor but numerous differences (including the addition of many footnotes) between the first and the second editions, both of which were published in two volumes. The differences between the second and third editions, however, are major: In 1784, Smith annexed these first two editions with the publication of Additions and Corrections to the First and Second Editions of Dr. Adam Smith’s Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, and he also had published the now three volume third edition of the Wealth of Nations which incorporated Additions and Corrections and for the first time an index. Among other things, the Additions and Corrections included entirely new sections. The fourth edition published in 1786 had only slight differences with the third edition, and Smith himself says in the Advertisment at the beginning of the book, "I have made no alterations of any kind." Finally, Cannan notes only trival differences between the fourth and fifth editions – a set of misprints being removed from the fourth, and a different set of misprints being introduced into the fifth.
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Wealth of Nations
Wealth of Nations
