Lesson 36: Clason, The Richest Man in Babylon, Part 1
Reading assignment
Richest Man, chapter 1
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Almost nothing is known about the author. Wikipedia’s entry for the book says this:
The Richest Man in Babylon is a book by George Samuel Clason which dispenses financial advice through a collection of parables set in ancient Babylon. Through their experiences in business and managing household finance, the characters in the parables learn simple lessons in financial wisdom. Originally a series of separate informational pamphlets distributed by banks and insurance companies, the pamphlets were bound together and published in book form in 1926.
It has never been out of print since 1926.
In the history of best-sellers, I can think of no American book that has had more readers, yet about whom less is known of the author. In one edition, we are told this:
GEORGE SAMUEL CLASON was born in Louisiana, Missouri, on November 7, 1874. He attended the University of Nebraska and served in the United States Army during the Spanish-American War. Beginning a long career in publishing, he founded the Clason Map Company of Denver, Colorado, and published the first road atlas of the United States and Canada.
This edition skips the following sections in other editions: (1) An Historical Sketch of Babylon; The Man Who Desired Gold; and The Walls of Babylon. The first conveys nothing of importance about investing. It is amateur history. The second merely sets the fictional story of the main character. The third is a disguised promotion of “whole life” life insurance policies, which I do not recommend.
You are now ready for lesson 1 on The Richest Man in Babylon.