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Separating the wheat from the chaff: a textual history of Turgot’s letters on the grain trade

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  • Richard van den Berg

Abstract

This article offers cautionary lessons about the reliability of a classic economic text. An examination of consecutive versions of Turgot’s Letters on the Grain Trade reveals several hundred variations in wordings, ranging from substitutions of single words, to omissions and additions of whole paragraphs. The most significant changes occurred with the post-humous publication of three of the Letters in 1788, raising the question whether Turgot ever finished revising the text to his own satisfaction. Moreover, it is shown that subsequent editors, in the 19th and 20th centuries continued to take liberties with the text in attempts to polish it further.

Suggested Citation

  • Richard van den Berg, 2025. "Separating the wheat from the chaff: a textual history of Turgot’s letters on the grain trade," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(6), pages 885-913, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eujhet:v:32:y:2025:i:6:p:885-913
    DOI: 10.1080/09672567.2025.2589519
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