The Freeman Book
Yes, that's right: The Freeman. This was the original, as edited by Albert Jay Nock in the early 1920s. It was radical, far-reaching, topical, and bracing in every way. Here we have a collection of what Nock himself considered to be the best of that journal, with many of the articles (probably even half) written by Nock himself.
Don't expect anything conventional from this volume. This generation considered themselves to be not liberals or conservatives but radicals. Their judgments are often uncannily wise. Sometimes they are reckless. Sometimes downright wrong. But it is always interesting in every way.
This book is of interest mainly to bibliophiles, and it is not a good choice if learning economics is your mission. But as a snapshot in time, and as a look at the history of libertarian ideas,as a picture of radical opinion between the first and second world wars, this book is essential.
It is very large: 416 pages in fact. And the print is small and the language somewhat of an anachronism so it takes some effort. Also, there is no index, which is not helpful. We did add an excellent and comprehensive table of contents, with authors clearly noted, so that helps enormously. All told, it is a fascinating package of ideology, commentary, and editorializing on events of the day from 1920 to 1924.
Here we have the original Freeman!
Comments (6)
"Here we have a collection of what Nock himself considered to be the best of that journal."
How many pages would it have been had it the book contained all of the journal's articles? I'm a bit disappointed that it doesn't. In other words, I'm a bit disappointed I cannot purchase the entire journal.
"This book is of interest mainly to bibliophiles."
I'm a bibliophile with no money. Maybe next year.
The cover alone makes this something I want in my collection.
Yours,
Alex Peak
Published: March 18, 2008 7:14 PM
I wish I knew how much the whole journal had by comparison. I don't. but this is a big book, so it must cover most of it.
Published: March 19, 2008 5:39 AM
So... Retail price is $20 and Mises price is $24?
Published: March 19, 2008 8:35 AM
That's retail of $28. What this represents is a regular cost-plus markup. We barely cover our costs on these things.
Published: March 19, 2008 9:19 AM
Ah. That makes sense. Figured it was just a typo. Either way, it got ordered. Yet more "subversive" material for me to read and pass along to my kids. ;-)
Published: March 19, 2008 9:57 AM
It seems like every time I check, the Mises Institute has either uploaded to the web, or republished between covers hard or soft, yet another hard-sought heirloom title I've acquired via the web over the last decade: assorted Nockiana and Hazlittian rarities especially. We of the Remnant thank thee. If I decide to auction the lot at some point, expect an APB via email. Meantime, those hot for copies of the original 1924 hardcover, currently offered starting in the low $20s, go here:
http://tinyurl.com/34rj73
The full run of the original Freeman, by the way, numbers around 200 issues, and may be browsed, largely on microfilm, at around 100 or so public and academic libraries - enter your ZIP code for the holdings closest to you:
http://tinyurl.com/3e2732
Published: March 30, 2008 1:18 PM