[GREAT BRITAIN - IRON]

The State of the Trade and Manufactory of Iron in Great-Britain considered

[London]: 1750. 8vo. (6 7/8 x 4 1/4 inches). 15 pp. An abridgement of the Interest of Great Britain, in supplying herself with Iron, circa 1747.

Half red morocco and marble paper boards. Marginal notes trimmed

A conflicted call for economic protectionism on the eve of industrial transformation and a snapshot of British iron trade policy in 1750, caught between timber, tariffs, and transatlantic competition.

An important and revealing mid-eighteenth-century pamphlet addressing the British iron industry at a moment of significant economic and technological transition. This work is considered an abridged version of The Interest of Great Britain, in Supplying Herself with Iron, published circa 1747, and offers a pointed critique of foreign and colonial competition in iron production. The anonymous author provides a rare quantitative estimate of domestic iron output, 18,000 tons annually, and laments the numerous challenges facing British ironmasters, including the rising cost and increasing scarcity of timber, then still the primary fuel used in smelting. In a notably conflicted argument, the tract decries the influx of Swedish iron while expressing even greater alarm over the growth of ironworks in Britain's North American colonies, viewing both as threats to the domestic market. Strikingly, the pamphlet makes no mention of the use of pit coal (i.e., mineral coal) in iron manufacturing, a technological development that would prove pivotal. This omission is particularly curious given that Lord Dudley had patented the process in 1619, and that Abraham Darby's pioneering use of coke at Coalbrookdale had been underway for over a decade by the time of this publication. The absence of such a reference suggests either a conservative industrial perspective or a lack of awareness of emergent metallurgical practices that would soon transform the industry and pave the way for Britain's dominance during the Industrial Revolution. Referenced by J.R. McCulloch in his A Select Collection of Scarce and Valuable Tracts on Commerce (1859), who found it "curious" for its data and omissions alike, this tract provides not only valuable insight into 18th-century economic policy and protectionist sentiment but also a fascinating snapshot of the iron trade on the cusp of technological upheaval.

ESTC T76989; Sabin, 90635. McCulloch, The Literature of Political Economy, 1845.

Item #42149

Price: $400.00