Carpenter, Kenneth E. 2002. The Dissemination of The Wealth of Nations in French and in France, 1776-1843

American Journal of Economics and Sociology, The,  Oct, 2004  by Yann Giraud

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Carpenter next explains how WN became canonical with the classic Garnier's translation. By "canonicity," Carpenter means that WN became a tool of foundation for "a new society" and "a new science." The canonicity of the book is evidenced by the fair amount of notes provided by Garnier, making Adam Smith's masterpiece "a complete corpus of [the economic] science" and showing that WN was a text to be studied by academics. Then, Garnier's translation was intended to build an image of Adam Smith that would have fitted with France's particular economic and political context. This idea is outlined though not clearly developed by the author. Carpenter's arguments remain centered round bibliographical considerations, as a complete study of Smith's canonicity would have demanded a study on the text itself.

The strength of Carpenter's work is to make such a study possible. Carpenter does not only present the various translations of WN, he also reproduces the reviews of the translations, the extracts published as part of a review of the original, the extracts published in encyclopedias, and several summaries and commentaries. Carpenter calls all these texts the "epitext," that is, all the elements outside the book that enable a reader to have some acquaintance with it even before getting it. For each book or any other extract presented, Carpenter mentions all notes and footnotes (which could not have been exhaustively reproduced, due to their large number), and reproduces the prefaces and any material that could be worth reading, such as dedications. The author also provides an exhaustive presentation of the manuscript itself, for example, type of paper used, leaf measurement, and pagination. Corrections and mistakes are indicated. A short text explains the context of publication and the content of the extract, making it understandable for non-French readers. It goes without saying that the book follows a chronological order. At the end of the preface, Carpenter denies any attempt to have reproduced the text in a facsimile transcription. Nevertheless, the rigor provided by Carpenter in order to display this material makes this gathering a reliable source of research. Carpenter's introductory essay can thus be seen as one among many other keys of lecture, from the history of French cultural policy to the study of French economics in the early 19th century. To focus on the question of Smith's canonicity, it appears that the material collected shows that all the authors interested in WN soon realized that it was supposed to be an important step for the construction of a new science and a new society. This was mentioned as soon as the English edition was first reviewed in France. However, this fact seems to weaken Carpenter's distinction between marginality. centrality, and canonicity, a distinction that remains relevant from a quantitative point of view.

The unusual character of this book comes from the contrast between its author's modesty and the impressive amount of information he has collected during his years of research. It also comes from the fact that his research seem totally disproportionate when confronted with the results it brings about. This "gentle madness" that characterizes librarians and all kinds of bibliophiles and bibliomanes may well frighten historians of economic thought. Adam Smith would not be surprised, as he wrote in his Theory of Moral Sentiments that "from a certain love of art and contrivance, we sometimes seem to value the means more than the end."