Stocks and Shares.

First edition. 8vo. xi, [1], 371, [1] pp. Original green ribbed cloth, spine lettered in gilt (foxing to endpapers and edges of text block, otherwise generally internally clean; some light wear to edges, small abrasion to upper portion of spine, a good copy). London, Smith, Elder & Co.

Hartley Withers (1867–1950), financial journalist, was born in Liverpool and educated at Westminster School and at Christ Church, Oxford. Withers joined The Times in 1894, serving as City editor from 1905 to 1910. A four year break from journalism saw him join the throngs of the City in a non-editorial capacity, working for a merchant banker and the Treasury, before taking the editor's chair at The Economist, where he remained until 1921.

In addition to his various editorial positions, Withers wrote more than forty-two books on financial subjects. Often compared to Bagehot, his work represented a stylistic turning point in economic writing: “His style was lucid and direct, and he had the capacity to surprise seekers after economic wisdom with some enlightening literary reference. His particular strength was an ability to make complex financial questions comprehensible to the lay reader. Withers had a great influence on the generation of financial journalists and writers who came after him. During his professional lifetime the characteristic arid, technical City article at the turn of the century was replaced by a broader view. He was, as one distinguished fellow professional later observed, ‘the first of a new kind of British financial journalist’. His thoughts were invariably expressed ‘in plain forceful English ... independent of business and City jargon’ (Fry, 16)” (ODNB).

Dennistoun, 290.

Stock Code: 247769