"An Inquiry into the Nature and Distribution of the World's Resources and Riches, and a History of the Origin and Influence of Property, its Possession, Accumulation and disposition in all Ages and among all Nations"That's how Hubert Howe Bancroft described his monumental 10-volume BOOK OF WEALTH when it was originally published in 1896.Produced in a very limited edition, and available only to the wealthiest families and individuals around the world, THE BOOK OF WEALTH goes back through recorded history - beginning with the Sumerians, the Egyptians and Babylonians - and explores the wealthiest individuals, institutions, organizations, religious foundations and nations that have built great wealth.Tracing the creation, acquisition and movement of wealth from the earliest civilizations to the dawn of the 20th Century, THE BOOK OF WEALTH analyzes what the wealthy did and how they did it.In this first volume of The Book of Wealth, Bancroft examines the history of wealth in ancient Chaldea, Babylonia, Assyria, Persia, Egypt, Phoenicia, Palestine and Arabia.Illustrated with more than 90 of the original photographs, engravings and line drawings from the 1896 edition.