"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