The Book of Wealth by Hubert Howe Bancroft

"The Book of Wealth" by Hubert Howe Bancroft has gained almost an iconic status in the self improvement/coaching arena. This is largely thanks to the motivational speaker Dr John Demartini who has been captured on video referring to the merits of Bancroft's 10 volume epic during his seminars.
Although a self made millionaire himself, Hubert Bancroft's book title and historic promotion may be a little misleading to those who have not previously encountered his masterpiece. An advert in the New York Times, published on 21st February 1898, promotes "The Book of Wealth" as:
"It is to deal with all that is worth knowing concerning wealth, from the dawn of history to Joe Leiter's wheat deal."

Indeed, if you had the means to purchase the 10 volume set in 1898 then you would already have been extremely wealthy. The same New York Times advertisment gives the selling price of "The Book of Wealth" as $2,500 per copy for the first, or cygne noir edition whilst the second edition would have set you back a mere $1,000 per copy. To achieve some indication of how much that equates to in today's economy, simply multiply by 25!

Nonetheless, the question remains, does the publication actually deliver as far as wealth creation is concerned? Well, that depends upon what you're expecting the book to cover. It is not a modern day "get rich" scheme but digs far deeper into historic wealth creation. Indeed, as well as being an entrepreneur, Bancroft was a passionate biliophile and eminent historian. Thus, it is no surprise to discover his description of the book as being:
"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."

Despite initially being printed in 1895, the general public have not had an opportunity to read "The Book of Wealth," This has undoubtedly contributed to the intrigue surrounding Bancroft's work. The price and limited publication numbers ensured that the contents of the book were confined to the wealthiest of families. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, however, The Book of Wealth pdf is now available to download in scanned document format.

Source: The Book of Wealth 1896

The Book of Wealth by Hubert Howe Bancroft

"The Book Of Wealth" was written by historian and book store owner, Hubert Howe Bancroft at the end of the 19th century. Comprising 10 volumes in total, only a limited number of editions of "The Book Of Wealth" were ever published. Consequently, access to the book has been confined to a very small minority of individuals.

The popularity and demand to read Bancroft's works has intensified in recent years due to the testimonials of several motivational speakers such as Dr John Demartini. Indeed, it is believed that some of the biggest and best business minds have read Bancroft's book.

Whilst Hubert Bancroft documents in great detail the history of wealth from the Babylonians through to the end of the 19th century, he also provides a psychological insight into how wealth can be amassed in such greatness.


The desire for an original copy of Bancroft's "The Book Of Wealth" is so great that there is often much competition whenever any publications come up for sale at auction, Consequently, this has placed the book beyond the reaches of the vast majority of us.  Digital copies are now available to download on the internet but prices vary significantly with one site selling the downloadable  copies of the books for well over a thousand dollars!

You can, however, buy the entire 10 Volumes for only $47 and I have included a link in the column on the right.