This is the sixth volume of Bentham's correspondence to be published in the
Collected Works, and about four-fifths of the letters included in it have not been
published before. Bentham's correspondence for the years 1798-1801 is particu-
larly voluminous, because it was at this time that his efforts to secure the imple-
mentation of his Panopticon penitentiary scheme reached their final climax. His
correspondence over this matter--much of it with public officials and MPs--
documents the series of frustrations, and (as he saw them) the obstructiveness
and duplicity, which he experienced during his negotiations with government.
The episode was a turning point for him, souring his view of the political establish-
ment and preparing his mind for the campaign against 'influence' and 'misrule'
which was to occupy most of the remainder of his life. Another subject which
claimed much of his attention during these years was public finance, and the
correspondence throws considerable light on his ideas as an economist and his
attempts to influence government policy in this field. It also throws light on his
co-operation with Patrick Colquhoun over the reform of the London police; on
his relations with his brother Samuel, then working on the reform of the naval
dockyards; and on the progress of his Genevan follower Étienne Dumont in pre-
paring a French recension of his writings on legislation.

The Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham

The new critical edition of the works and correspondence of Jeremy Bentham
(1748-1832) is being prepared and published under the supervision of the Ben-
tham Committee of University College London. In spite of his importance as
jurist, philosopher, and social scientist, and leader of the Utilitarian reformers,
the only previous edition of his works was a poorly edited and incomplete one
brought out within a decade or so of his death. Eight volumes of the new Col-
lected Works, five of correspondence, and three of writings on jurisprudence,
appeared between 1968 and 1981, published by the Athlone Press. Further
volumes in the series since then are published by Oxford University Press. The
overall plan and principles of the edition are set out in the General Preface to
The Correspondence of Jeremy Bentham vol. 1, which was the first volume of
the Collected Works to be published.

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