Jevon's Debt to Cairnes: An Unnoticed Review

In his note we wish to draw attention to a curious ommission in the correspondence between J.E. Cairnes and W.S. Jevons during the course of 1863 relating to a majoi review by Cairnes of Jevons's pamphlet on the gold question. The fact that such a correspondence occurred is itself of some interest considering Cairnes's accepted position within the conventional interpretation of economic thought as representing the last ol the classical economists. This historical location of Cairnes would presumably undei normal circumstances have placed him in a position of potential intellectual conflicl with Jevons, who was, of course, the pivotal figure of the so-called "marginalist revolution" in England. Even apart from this, Jevons's well documented hostility to the intellectual influence of John Stuart Mill would arguably have been an additional source of opposition to Cairnes, given the latter's close personal friendship and more particularly his intellectual adherence to many of Mill's doctrines. Notwithstanding these potential sources of conflict between the two men, Jevons had, in fact, a very high regard for Cairnes's contributions to political economy. This is clearly evident from the correspondence between the two men, which was originally brought to light by R.D. Collinson Black.