This is a foundational work in mathematical economics by Antoine Augustin Cournot, originally published in French in 1838. [12] The book was not widely recognized until English translations appeared, such as the 1897 version translated by Nathaniel T. Bacon, which included an influential essay and an extensive bibliography of mathematical economics by Irving Fisher. [1, 5, 6] The specific citation in the text refers to a 1971 reprint by the publisher A. M. Kelley, which is based on the earlier English translation. [2, 3, 8]