In spite of his statement that he had made no alterations of any kind, Smith either made or permitted a few trifling alterations between the third and fourth editions. The subjunctive is very frequently substituted for the indicative after “if,” the phrase “if it was” in particular being constantly altered to “if it were.” In the note at vol. i , p. 71, “late disturbances” is substituted for “present disturbances.” The other differences are so trifling that they may be misreadings or unauthorised corrections of the printers.
The fifth edition, the last published in Smith’s lifetime and consequently the one from which the present edition has been copied, is dated 1789. It is almost identical with the fourth, the only difference being that the misprints of the fourth edition are corrected in the fifth and a considerable number of fresh ones introduced, while several false concords—or concords regarded as false—are corrected (see vol. i , p. 108; vol. ii , pp. 215, 249).
It is clear from the passage at vol. ii , p. 177, that Smith regarded the title “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” as a synonym for “political œconomy,” and it seems perhaps a little surprising that he did not call his book “Political Œconomy” or “Principles of Political Œconomy.” But we must remember that the term was still in 1776 a very new one, and that it had been used in the title of Sir James Steuart’s great book, An Inquiry Into the Principles of Political Œconomy: Being an Essay on the Science of Domestic Policy in Free Nations , which was published in 1767. Nowadays, of course, no author has any special claim to exclusive use of the title. We should as soon think of claiming copyright for the title “Arithmetic” or “Elements of Geology” as for “Principles of Political Economy.” But in 1776 Adam Smith may well have refrained from using it simply because it had been used by Steuart nine years before, especially considering the fact that the Wealth of Nations was to be brought out by the publishers who had brought out Steuart’s book.