The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money
Manuscript ownership inscription “K. S. Venkataraman”, dated June 1938, on the first leaf.
Published in the aftermath of the Great Depression, The General Theory transformed twentieth-century economic thought. Keynes challenged the idea that full employment would naturally restore itself, and argued instead for public intervention through spending, investment, and the management of demand.
The provenance gives this copy particular resonance. K. S. Venkataraman, an Indian economist associated with the University of Madras, had written to Keynes as early as 1913 seeking advice on the study of economics and on strengthening the university library in that field. He later published important work on the textile industry in southern India, notably The Hand-Loom Industry in South India.
A significant copy, linking one of the founding books of modern economics with an Indian reader directly engaged in monetary, industrial, and colonial questions.
Moggridge A10.1 ; Printing and the Mind of Man, 423.