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Malthus’s famous An Essay on the Principle of Population was first published in 1798. The book had six editions till 1826 and in each edition Malthus made changes to his original idea. From a pessimist par excellence in 1798, he mellowed into a realist in successive editions. But he continued to argue that population had a tendency to outstrip the supply of food necessary for its survival and that it could be held in check either through positive checks ...
This book, undoubtedly, have been rendered much more complete by a collection of a greater number of facts in elucidation of the general argument. But a long and almost total interruption from very particular business, joined to a desire (perhaps imprudent) of not delaying the publication much beyond the time that he originally proposed, prevented the author from giving to the subject an undivided attention. He presumes, however, that the facts which he has ...