{"id":202463,"date":"2026-03-15T19:21:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-15T19:21:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/test-economics-2\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T06:51:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T20:51:02","slug":"works-guillaumin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/davidmhart.com\/wordpress\/works-guillaumin\/","title":{"rendered":"Collection – The Guillaumin Collection of the Great Books of Liberty"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nRevised: 28 April 2026\n<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/a> | The Guillaumin Collection<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

I have named my collection of classic works about liberty and power the “Guillaumin Collection” in honour of the French publishing firm run by Gilbert-Urbain Guillaumin (1801-64) and his two daughters F\u00e9licit\u00e9 and Pauline, which published some 2,359 books, journals, dictionaries, and encyclopedias between 1837 and 1910 (see\u00a0full list<\/a>), and thus played a central role in the emergence of the “Paris School” of political economy (my paper<\/a>\u00a0and a\u00a0list of key texts<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The books in the “Guillaumin Collection” are some of the most important works in the development of the classical liberal \/ libertarian tradition (see my list of “The Great Books of Liberty<\/a>”). My aim is to create a “near replica” of the original classic text which can be used for scholarly purposes, either by being read online or downloaded for personal use. The texts are in their original language (English, French, German, and Latin), and are based upon either the first edition (such as Adam Smith’s\u00a0Wealth of Nations<\/em>\u00a0(1776) ) or the last edition published in the author’s lifetime (such as Adam Smith’s\u00a0Theory of Moral Sentiments<\/em>\u00a0(the 1st ed. appeared in 1759; the final revised edition appeared in 1790)). In addition, there is a facsimile PDF of the original text for those who wish to see an “actual replica” of the text.\u00a0<\/p>\n

These books have been richly coded and have some features which scholars will find useful, such as<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. the original page numbers of the text (the traditional way in which scholars would cite a passage)<\/li>\n
  2. a unique paragraph ID number which allows the “citation tool” to grab the ID number and create a “citation” for that paragraph. There is a short version which just has the URL for that paragraph (the “anchor” symbol), and a long version which has the full bibliographic information for the text as well as the URL for that paragraph (the “star” symbol). For more information about this see the “Guide to Using the Citation Tool<\/a>” and the more detailed description of the features of\u00a0the Guillaumin Collection<\/a>\u00a0and the sources of the original texts.<\/li>\n
  3. an easier to read format for these texts which is designed to make these rather dense texts more readable online. The texts are 600px wide, there is more spacing between the lines and the paragraphs, and the background colour is an off-white (based on the ideas of\u00a0Edward Tufte<\/a>).\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The texts in the collection are in a variety of formats:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. a facsimile PDF of the original edition<\/li>\n
    2. an “enhanced HTML” with the additional features listed above\u00a0<\/li>\n
    3. an ePub version, also made from this HTML<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Note<\/strong>: I should mention that a couple of texts in the collection are not strictly “classical liberal” or “libertarian” but are included here because of their influence on both these traditions of political thought.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. the works of William Shakespeare -are included because of his insights into the nature of political and military power, and its effects on those who wield it and those who suffer from it. Shakespeare’s own political views are hard to determine exactly. It would be anachronistic to describe him as a “(classical) liberal” but he might be best describe as a “humanist” or at least a “sceptic”. I included as well his poems\u00a0Venus and Adonis<\/em>\u00a0(1594) and\u00a0Sonnets<\/em>\u00a0(1609) just because I felt like it.<\/li>\n
      2. The Federalist Papers<\/em>\u00a0written by Hamilton, Jay, and Madison (1788) -are included because they helped shape one of the great experiments to limit the power of the state by means of a written constitution and the division of power, but which in my view ultimately failed. Again, they are not classical liberal or libertarian, but they were part of the American ”conservative” tradition which has (or once had) some classical liberal and libertarian tendencies.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n