The History, Principles, and Practice of Banking.

James William Gilbart (1794–1863), author of the standard treatise, A Practical Treatise on Banking (1st ed., 1827), was the pre-eminent Victorian authority on banking. He was connected with the Union Club, a debating society founded by John Stuart Mill, of which Macaulay was a member. He first managed banks in Ireland, then became manager of the London and Westminster Bank in 1833. He adopted methods learnt in Ireland to allow the bank to operate in the face of considerable opposition from the Bank of England, and played a key role in the Association of Joint-Stock Banks, formed in 1838. His proposals on banking practice were eventually enshrined in law.

2 volumes, small 8vo. Prize binding of purple hard-grain morocco, spines gilt, gilt collegiate arms to front covers, yellow endpapers, gilt edges. Prize labels of King’s College, London, dated 1891. One or two trivial marks, an excellent copy.