The Ways and Means of Payment: A Full Analysis of the Credit System, With Its Various Modes of Adjustment.

First edition of this detailed critique of the 19th-century credit system. Octavo, original publisher's cloth with gilt titles to the spine. Association copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "Peter Cooper Esq with respects of the Author." Additionally signed by Peter Cooper on the third free endpaper. Peter Cooper (1791–1883) was an American industrialist, inventor, and philanthropist best known for founding the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City, an institution dedicated to providing free education in the arts and sciences. He had an abiding interest in monetary theory, and in 1876 he ran for president of the ticket of the Greenback Party because he believed his candidacy would bring to the public his views on currency. Annotated extensively throughout by Cooper with penciled notes in the margins, ranging from arrows and underlining to detailed marginal comments on the text. In good condition with bumping and rubbing, damp staining to the top of the rear panel, and losses to the crown of the spine. Accompanied by two loose pamphlets by Peter Cooper laid in: "The Appeal of Peter Cooper, Now in the 88th Year of His Age" dated 1879 and "A 'People's Money' Demanded." Housed in a custom folding chemise and half morocco slipcase.