William Petty, Political Anatomy of Ireland

Sabine Reungoat (L'Université Paris-Est Créteil)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.04: English Writing and Culture of the Seventeenth Century, 1625-1688.
Vol. editors: Jennifer Brady (Rhodes College), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Neil Forsyth (Université de Lausanne), Claire Preston (Queen Mary, University of London), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

Domains

Political Economy

Dates

First circulation or publication 1691

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Treatise

Resources

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Recommended Reading

The

Political Anatomy of Ireland

was written by William Petty in 1671-1672 and published in 1691. In this treatise, Petty made an overall survey of Ireland’s economy and population based on statistical evidence and put forward a series of proposals aimed at “improving” the country’s agriculture and trade, reforming its political institutions and securing the Protestant interest.

The Political Anatomy was written during Petty’s second long stay in Ireland. Edward Chamberlayne (1616-1703), author of the Present State of England (1669), had appealed to him for material on Ireland while working on a new edition of his book, and this may have prompted Petty to write his own treatise. The Political Anatomy was, in many ways, an extension of Petty’s major undertaking in Ireland during

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1429 words

Citation: Reungoat, Sabine. "Political Anatomy of Ireland". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 December 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=39167, accessed 26 November 2024.]

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