The Wealth of Nations
EditionOriginal English text, Smith’s revised text (third edition, 1784, or later)
Adam Smith’s inquiry into what makes nations rich: the division of labour, markets, capital, trade, and the duties of the state.
Also in the library: the complete Korean translation.
Anyone can read the first chapter. Join free to read to the end and download EPUB and PDF.
DRM-free files. Translation CC BY-NC 4.0; the original work is in the public domain.
About the book
An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations opens in a pin factory, where the division of labour multiplies what ten workers can make, and moves outward to money, prices, wages, profit, and rent, to the accumulation of capital, to the history of European towns and agriculture, to a long critique of the mercantile system, and finally to what the sovereign must pay for and how it should be raised.
This is the complete text of Smith’s revised edition, including the chapters he added in 1784, with his own notes in braces and his price tables. It is divided into pages exactly as our complete Korean translation is, so the two can be read side by side. Fifteen small errors of transcription are corrected.
Highlights
- It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.
- led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention.
Contents
Anyone can read up to the first chapter. Chapters with a lock are open to free members.
Colophon
Original English text, Smith’s revised text (third edition, 1784, or later). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0.Full colophon
The Wealth of Nations
Full title · An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Author · Adam Smith (1723–1790)
First publication · 9 March 1776, W. Strahan and T. Cadell, London, in two volumes, as An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
Source text · A public-domain digital transcription of Smith’s revised text (third edition, 1784, or later), which includes the chapters added in 1784.
Extent · Complete and unabridged · the Introduction and five books · about 378,000 words
Copyright · The author died in 1790; the work is in the public domain worldwide.
This edition · The original English text, edited for Ether Library. The text itself is in the public domain. Ether Library’s editor’s note, this colophon, and the cover design are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).
Edition · English edition 1.0 · October 2026
Typography · Set in Lora (SIL Open Font License 1.1). Cover painting and design by Ether Library.
Text in the public domain · Front and back matter CC BY-NC 4.0
Ether Library · No. 0006