ABSTRACT
What is the significance of the lecture notes of an economist? Do they only strike the fancy of schizophrenic historians who are eager to know the details not only of economic doctrines but also of the personal lives of economists, such as those presented in Hession’s (1984) fascinating biography of John Maynard Keynes? Or, rather, are they important materials for research and analysis to help us place these thinkers’ positions in perspective? In considering the existing lecture notebooks of Adam Smith, Carl Menger, Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk, and Keynes himself, as well as the lecture notes prepared by Max Weber-to name only a few examples-I am of the latter opinion.1
