Cloth binding. Black lettering with gilt title on front cover.

An Essay Upon Projects (1697) was the first volume published by Daniel Defoe. It begins with a portrait of his time as a “Projecting Age” and subsequently illustrates plans for the economic and social improvement of England, including an early proposal for a national insurance scheme.

The text was written in 1693 and published in 1697. The frontispiece state “printed by R. R. for Tho. Cockerill, at the Corner of Warwick-Lane, near Paternoster – Row. MDCXCVII”. There is no known manuscript of the work. The essay was reprinted several times and reached a wide audience. The book was dedicated to Dalby Thomas

Many of its issues were later revised in a series of pamphlets which were published under the nom-de-plume of Andrew Moreton. They are titled Every-body’s Business, Is No-body’s Business (1725), The Protestant Monastery (1726), Parochial Tyranny (1727), Augusta Triumphans (1728) and Second Thoughts are Best (1729). Compared to these works, however, An Essay Upon Projects is more focused on moral criticism than being project oriented.

A self-explanatory list of chapters:

• Author’s Preface – to Dalby Thomas, Esq.
• Author’s Introduction
• The History of Projects
• Of Projectors
• Of Banks
• Of the Highways
• Of Assurances
• Of Friendly Societies
• The Proposal is for a Pension Office
• Of Wagering
• Of Fools
• Of Bankrupts
• Of Academies
• Of a Court Merchant
• Of Seamen
• The Conclusion

 Daniel Defoe (born Daniel Foe; c. 1660 – 24 April 1731) was an English writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer and spy. He is most famous for his novel Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, which is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations. He has been seen as one of the earliest proponents of the English novel and helped to popularise the form in Britain with others such as Aphra Behn and Samuel Richardson. Defoe wrote many political tracts and was often in trouble with the authorities, and spent a period in prison. Intellectuals and political leaders paid attention to his fresh ideas and sometimes consulted him.

Defoe was a prolific and versatile writer, producing more than three hundred works—books, pamphlets, and journals — on diverse topics, including politics, crime, religion, marriage, psychology, and the supernatural. He was also a pioneer of business journalism and economic journalism.