An Essay Upon Projects (1697) was the first volume published by Daniel Defoe.[1] It begins with a portrait of his time as a "Projecting Age"[2] and subsequently illustrates plans for the economic and social improvement of England,[3] including an early proposal for a national insurance scheme.
The text was written in 1693 and published in 1697. The frontispiece states "printed by R. R. for Tho. Cockerill, at the Corner of Warwick-Lane, near Paternoster – Row. MDCXCVII". There is no known manuscript of the work. The essay was reprinted several times and reached a wide audience.[4]: 105 The book was dedicated to Dalby Thomas
Many of its issues were later revised in a series of pamphlets which were published under the nom-de-plume of Andrew Moreton.[1] They are titled Every-body's Business, Is No-body's Business (1725), The Protestant Monastery (1726), Parochial Tyranny (1727), Augusta Triumphans (1728) and Second Thoughts are Best (1729).[1] Compared to these works, however, An Essay Upon Projects is more focused on moral criticism than being project-oriented.[5]