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, edited by听Dr Michael Quinn, contains the fruits of Bentham鈥檚 collaboration in 1798-9 with the police magistrate Patrick Colquhoun in preparation of two Bills intended to reform the policing of the River Thames on one hand, and that of the whole country, with particular emphasis on London, on the other. The preparation of this volume has been made possible by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust.
, edited by Michael Quinn,听is also now available for free perusal and download from University College London鈥檚 digital repository. All but one of the works presented in this volume were written between September 1798 and August 1801, and all but the first concern Bentham鈥檚 Annuity Note plan for the issue of an interest-bearing paper currency by government which might become the standard medium for holding government annuities. The online version lacks a full editorial introduction, and name and subject indices, which must await the publication of the volume in due course.
Dr Quinn would like to express his sincere gratitude to all of the Transcribe Bentham volunteers whose transcripts of material from Boxes 1鈥�3 of the Bentham Papers were invaluable in the preparation of the text鈥攖hey are thanked by name (or by username) on p. 9 of 鈥楨d Int & Prelims鈥�.
, edited by听Dr Tim Causer听and听Professor Philip Schofield, consists of seven texts, four of which are made available for the first time. The preparation of these texts has been made possible by a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
听(1791), written only months after Bentham first offered his 鈥榩anopticon鈥� penitentiary鈥攁 design for a circular prison governed by the 鈥榗entral inspection principle鈥欌�攖o the Pitt administration, constitutes Bentham鈥檚 first serious engagement with Britain鈥檚 infant penal colony of New South Wales.听听(1802), the then Home Secretary, consists of letters and documents compiled by Bentham which set out many of his grievances in regard to his treatment over the panopticon scheme during the previous decade, and in effect constitutes a history of the beginning of Bentham鈥檚 attack on New South Wales.
听(1802) is perhaps the earliest detailed critique by a major philosopher of punishment of the practice of transporting convicts to New South Wales. In听听(1802) Bentham continued his attack by presenting numerous examples to demonstrate the failure of New South Wales as an instrument of penal policy.听听(1802-3) saw Bentham extend his critique to the prison hulks and 鈥榠mproved prisons鈥� of England and Wales. In听听(1802-3) Bentham examined New South Wales on point of law, and sought to demonstrate that the colony had been illegally founded. Finally, the incomplete听听(1831) effectively constituted Bentham鈥檚 commentary upon the National Colonization Society鈥檚 proposal of August 1831 to found a colony in South Australia.
Transcripts produced by volunteers of听Transcribe Bentham, the award-winning crowdsourcing initiative now co-ordinated by Dr Chris Riley of the Bentham Project, have been used in the preparation of texts for both volumes, and volunteers are fully acknowledged in the introductions.
These are preliminary versions of听Writings on Political Economy, Volume III听and听Writings on Australia, in that the authoritative texts will appear as volumes of听The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham, with full Editorial Introductions, name and subject indexes, finalized annotation, and working cross-references. The volumes will be published in due course by UCL Press.
For electronic editions of听The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham, please visit the following link. For everything else, please see the Bentham Bibliography.