[Rezension zu Luigi Cossa: Primi elementi di economia politica. Vol. I: Economia sociale, ottava edizione totalmente rifatta]

Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk on Cossa’s Primi Elementi (1889)

Böhm-Bawerk’s short review assesses the thoroughly revised eighth edition of Luigi Cossa’s economics textbook, specifically its theoretical volume, Economia Sociale (1888). Moving from the book’s international reception to its scholarly merits and changed organization, he concludes by urging a new German translation.

Its many editions and translations establish Cossa’s reach, but Böhm-Bawerk’s praise rests on the intellectual discipline of the elementary handbook:

Cossa's Elementi sind das Muster eines Grundrisses; klar, scharf, kurz, bei aller Kürze reich an Inhalt, ausgestattet mit einer für den geringen Umfang des Büchleins geradezu glänzenden Litteraturübersicht, und — last not least — immer auf der Höhe der Wissenschaft.

English translation: Cossa's Elementi are the model of an outline: clear, sharp, brief, for all their brevity rich in content, furnished with a survey of the literature positively brilliant for the small compass of the little book, and — last not least — always abreast of the science.

Brevity here means concentrated substance, not simplification at the expense of scholarship. Böhm-Bawerk particularly values Cossa’s selective receptiveness to new work across national literatures and methodological schools: the textbook stays current through discriminating judgment.

The review then explains the edition’s structural change. Cossa has separated theoretical economics, now published as Economia Sociale, from practical economic policy, the forthcoming Politica Economica. Expansion accompanies this division: the theoretical part alone slightly exceeds the former whole in length. These revisions provide the grounds for Böhm-Bawerk’s closing appeal:

Sollte es unter diesen Umständen nicht zeitgemäß sein, eine neue Uebersetzung des trefflichen Buches zu veranstalten, durch die dasselbe auch in seiner jetzigen erweiterten Gestalt dem deutschen Publikum vorgeführt würde?

English translation: Would it not, under these circumstances, be timely to arrange a new translation of the excellent book, by which it would be presented to the German public in its present enlarged form as well?

The review’s significance lies in its standard for economic instruction: clarity, compression, bibliographical breadth, and continuing scholarly renewal justify both the textbook’s success and its renewed circulation in German.