Historedia
Person

Adam Smith

Events
4
Episodes
9
Years
1740–1859

Every event in Historedia whose sources name Adam Smith, with the role they cite and all of that event’s episodes. This is not a biography, and mentions are grouped by name, so two people with the same name can share this page.

Events and episodes

  1. Adam Smith Enters Balliol College

    1740

    Role: Graduate scholar

    1. 1740 · Balliol College, OxfordSmith Enters Balliol

      Adam Smith was presented as a graduate scholar to undertake postgraduate studies at Balliol College, Oxford, under the Snell Exhibition.

  2. Adam Smith begins public lectures in Edinburgh

    1748

    Role: Lecturer

    1. 1748 · University of EdinburghEdinburgh Public Lectures

      Smith began public lectures in Edinburgh in 1748, sponsored by the Philosophical Society under Lord Kames.

  3. Publication of The Wealth of Nations

    1776–1792

    Role: author

    1. 1776–1778 · British literary debateContemporary Criticism over the East India Company

      In the 1778 second edition of his poem's introduction, Mickle attacked Smith's laissez-faire doctrines on the East India Company question.

    2. 1776–1789 · British publishingLater Editions in Smith's Lifetime

      Five editions appeared during Smith's lifetime; the 1784 third edition added an index for the first time and incorporated his Additions and Corrections.

    3. date unknown · later history of economic thoughtMarxian and Liberal Reception

      Marx called the book the true Bible of eighteenth-century classical political economy, while Marxian economics critiqued the tradition it founded.

    4. 9 March 1776 · place of publication not attested in supplied passagesPublication of The Wealth of Nations

      Smith's treatise appeared on 9 March 1776 in two volumes, the culmination of roughly a decade of work and his central intellectual project.

    5. 12 April 1776 – 1778 · British political and literary circlesEarly Reception and Hume's Assessment

      Within weeks of publication, David Hume reportedly judged the book too demanding to become as popular as Gibbon's Decline and Fall.

    6. 17 February 1792 · House of CommonsParliamentary and Political Influence

      William Pitt praised the treatise in the Commons in 1792, and it was quoted by Whitbread, Fox, and Wilberforce in debates that year.

  4. Karl Marx publishes A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy

    1859

    Role: Classical Economist

    1. 1859 · Publication location not specified in sourcesPublication of A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy

      Marx published his first serious critique of political economy in 1859, intended as a preview for his later major work, Das Kapital.

Sources

  1. Adam Smith Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-24
  2. The Wealth of Nations Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-21
  3. A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy Wikipedia, revision of 2026-01-10
  4. Karl Marx Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05