74. Kantorowicz, Hermann [1877-1940]. Bractonian Problems: Being the Ninth Lecture on the David Murray Foundation in the University of Glasgow. With a Short Memoir of the Author by Doris M. Stenton. Glasgow: Jackson, Son & Company, 1941. Reprint. [Delanco, New Jersey: The Legal Classics Library, 2006]. [xii], [9]-133, [4] pp. Calf, decorative gilt stamping. Fine.  $95.
* Reprint of the only edition. De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae and Note Book of Henry de Bracton [d.1268] are the founding texts of English common law. At the end of his career Kantorowicz, one of the greatest scholars of medieval law, re-examined these venerable texts in the course of a legendary seminar at Cambridge University. He summarized his findings in Bractonian Problems.

Pioneering Law-French Dictionary

75. Kelham, Robert [1717-1808]. A Dictionary of the Norman or Old French Language; Collected From Such Acts of Parliament, Parliament Rolls, Journals, Acts of State, Records, Law Books, Antient Historians,Acts of State, and Manuscripts, as Relate to this Nation. Calculated To Illustrate the Rights and Customs of Former Ages, the Forms of Laws and Jurisprudence, the Names of Dignities and Offices, of Persons and Places; and to Render the Reading of Those Records, More Easy; As Well as Restore the True Sense and Meaning of Many Words, Hitherto Deemed quite Obscure or Mistranslated. To Which are Added The Laws of William the Conqueror, With Notes and References. London: Printed For Edward Brooke, 1779. viii, 259, [1]; xii, 88 [i.e. 90] pp. Two parts in one with individual title pages and paginations. Octavo (5" x 8-1/4"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Faint offsetting to margins of title page, interior otherwise fresh.  $850.
* First edition. This pioneering work was not superseded until the twentieth century. In 1843 it was reprinted and appended to Bouvier’s Law Dictionary. The second part containing the laws of William the Conqueror is printed in three columns containing the text in Norman, Latin translations by a Dr. Wilkins and English translations by Kelham. “Though far from complete, it is the best work of the Kind”: Marvin 435. Sweet & Maxwell 1:9 (35).

Presentation Copy by Important

Dutch Constitutional Scholar

76. Kemper, J[ohan] M[elchior] [1776-1824]. Redevoeringen. Amsterdam: Johannes van der Hey, 1814. xvi, 188 pp. Copperplate portrait frontispiece.

[Bound with]

Proeve Over den Invloed der Staatkundige Gebeurtenissen en der Godsdienstige en Wijsgeerige Begrippen, Sedert Ruim Vijf en Twintig Jaren, op de Ware Verlichting in het Godsdienstige en Zedelijke bij de Volken van Europa. Amsterdam: Johannes van der Hey, 1820. 134 pp.

Cras, H[enrik] C[onstantijn] [1739-1820]. Lijkrede Door Mr. J.M. Kemper, Voorgelezen in de Amsterdamsche Maatschappij: Felix Merits. [n.p.: n.d.]. 92 pp. Copperplate portrait frontispiece.

Octavo (5" x 8"). Contemporary morocco, gilt spine with lettering piece, gilt filets to boards, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, ribbon marker. Light rubbing and soiling with negligible wear, small location label to foot of spine. “Clenmarty/ from the Author. Feb. 12, 1824-” to front free endpaper. Faint dampstaining to bottom edges of preliminary leaves, interior otherwise fresh. An appealing copy.  $700.
* Kemper was an influential authority on Dutch constitutional law. He was Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Leiden and later became the university’s rector. He framed Holland’s post-Napoleonic constitution that established the constitutional monarchy that exists today. Redevoeringen is a collection of addresses and lectures. The second work is a study of Dutch constitutional law. The third is an address in Kemper’s honor by Cras. Not in the BMC. See illustration below.

Handsome Edition of the Newgate Calendar

78. Knapp, Andrew, and William Baldwin. The Newgate Calendar; Comprising Interesting Memoirs of the Most Notorious Characters Who Have Been Convicted of Outrages on the Laws of England Since the Commencement of the Eighteenth Century; With Occasional Anecdotes and Observations, Speeches, Confessions, and Last Exclamations of Sufferers. London: J. Robins and Co., 1824-1826. Four volumes. Text printed in double columns. Woodcut frontispieces and text illustrations. Octavo (5-1/4" x 8-1/4"). Contemporary three-quarter calf over marbled boards, raised bands, gilt ornaments and lettering pieces to spines, marbled edges and endpapers. Some rubbing with light wear to extremities, corners bumped, hinges starting. Early owner bookplate to each pastedown, residue from wax seals to each rear pastedown. Early owner signature to verso of each front free endpaper. Occasional light foxing and finger smudges, interior otherwise clean. An attractive set.  $650.
* Later edition. Demolished in 1902, Newgate was London’s main prison for seven centuries. Produced by different authors and publishers, the Newgate Calendar narrated notorious crimes from 1700 onward. The original series was published by R. Sanders in 1760. The present edition covers cases up to 1826. The plates depict a motley assortment of murderers, muggers, pickpockets, pirates, cat-burglars, counterfeiters, imposters, extortionists, crimes in progress, punishments, prisons, executions. In all, it provides a uniquely detailed catalogue of crime and punishment along with original anecdotes and sensational descriptions. Sweet & Maxwell 1:370 (18). See illustration below.

“Remarkably Able Pioneer Treatise” on Corporations

79. Kyd, Stewart. A Treatise on the Law of Corporations. London: J. Butterworth, 1793-1794. Two volumes. Octavo (5" x 8"). Recent period-style calf, raised bands and lettering pieces to spines, endpapers renewed. Offsetting to margins of endleaves, light foxing to preliminaries of Volume II, interior otherwise fresh. Early armorial bookplates to verso of each half-titles, both of which are lacking their upper corners. Ex-library. Small inkstamps and “29104' in fine hand to title pages. A nice set.  $1,000.
* First edition. According to Holdsworth, this “remarkably able pioneer treatise” is one of the most distinguished English law books written during the eighteenth century. Well arranged and clearly written, it begins with an introductory chapter that defines different types of corporations. The following chapters discuss their creation, relation to the public, institutional constitution, visitation and dissolution. Thoroughly grounded in the history of the subject, it cites and discusses every relevant authority from the Year Books to the author’s lifetime. Kyd [d. 1811], a Scottish lawyer, wrote distinguished treatises on awards and bills of exchange and a continuation of Comyn’s Digest. OCLC locates 47 copies. Holdsworth XII:400. Sweet & Maxwell 1:416.

80. Langbein, John H. Prosecuting Crime in the Renaissance: England, Germany, France. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974. ix, 321 pp. Illustrations. Reprinted 2005 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-577-7. Cloth. New.    $95.
* Our present system of criminal prosecution originated in England in the sixteenth century. Langbein traces its development, which was at its most intense during the reign of Queen Mary. He shows how the common law developed a system of official investigation and prosecution that incorporated the medieval institution of the jury trial. He places equal emphasis on the role of the justices of the peace as public prosecutors. The second half of the book compares the English system with those of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany) and France. He concludes by refuting the popular opinion that the English were strongly indebted to continental models. This work was awarded Cambridge University’s Yorke Prize.

“The Ornament of the Common Law”

81. Littleton, Sir Thomas [1402-1481]. Littleton’s Tenures in English, Lately Perused and Amended. London: Printed for the Compagnie of Stationers, 1627. [ii] pp., 2-142 fols., [4] pp. Octavo (3-1/2" x 5-1/2"). Later period-style quarter sheep over paper boards, raised bands, blind ornaments and gilt titles to spine, endpapers renewed. Fore-edge of title page carefully mended. Early annotations in fine hand to an endleaf and margin of one text leaf. Light soiling to title page, offsetting to margins of final two leaves, interior otherwise fresh. A handsome copy.  $600.
* Written during the reign of Edward IV [1442-1483] and first published around 1481, Littleton’s Tenures is probably the most revered treatise in the history of the common law. Much admired for its learning and style, it is concerned with tenures and other issues relating to real property. This venerable work, which Coke called “the ornament of the Common Law, and the most perfect and absolute work that ever was written in any humane science,” is a considered a landmark because it renounced the principles of Roman law (and Latin) in favor of a set of guidelines and doctrines drawn from the Year Books, and when necessary, hypothetical cases. OCLC locates 14 copies of this edition. Holdsworth II:573. Sweet & Maxwell 1:455 (111). See illustration below.

“Indispensable to Historians of

Mediaeval Conveyancing”

82. [Madox, Thomas (1666-1727)]. Formulare Anglicanum: or, A Collection of Antient Charters and Instruments of Divers Kinds, Taken from the Originals, Placed Under Several Heads, And Deduced (In a Series According to the Order of Time) from the Norman Conquest to the End of the Reign of King Henry the VIII. London: Printed for Jacob Tonson and R. Knaplock, 1702. [12], xxxiv, 441, [11] pp. Two fold-out copperplates, one of seals and one of early hands. Folio (7-1/2" x 12-1/2"). Contemporary paneled calf, rebacked in morocco with raised bands and gilt titles, endpapers renewed. Some scuffing to boards, moderate wear to board edges and corners, front hinge just starting. Two early armorial bookplates to front pastedown. Title page printed in red and black. Later notes in pencil to two leaves. Light soiling to title page, tiny inkstains and worm holes to margins of a few leaves, interior otherwise fresh.  $650.
* First edition. “It is a most valuable collection of mediaeval charters, which is indispensable to historians of mediaeval conveyancing.”: Holdsworth, The Historians of Anglo-American Law 42. Sweet & Maxwell 1:484 (42).

Illinois Law School in the Late 1930s

83. [Manuscript]. [J. Otis Brown]. Student Notebooks, University of Illinois College of Law, 1937-1939. Ten clothbound ledgers with ruled leaves. Eight contain 180 leaves and measure 8" x 10,” two contain 149 leaves and measure 7-1/2" x 9-1/2.” Neatly-written notes fill both sides of most leaves, several additional typed and handwritten notes laid in. Moderate shelfwear, backstrips of two ledgers starting.      $500.
* Three ledgers were compiled in 1937, four were compiled in 1938, three were compiled in 1939. These contain notes for classes taken by J. Otis Brown during his years in Champaign. These include Wills, Administrative Law, Bankruptcy, Vendor or Purchaser, Contracts, Possessory Estates, Constitutional Law, Trial Practice, Torts and Equity, Sales, Trusts, Business Organizations, Pleading, Bills and Notes, Landlord and Tenant, Credit Transactions, Taxation, Corporations and Suretyship. They also include several course outlines and reading lists. Taken together, these carefully compiled volumes offer a unique perspective on the Law School’s philosophy and pedagogical approach during the late 1930s.

First Edition of the First Work on

the Law of the King’s Forest

84. Manwood, John [d.1610]. A Treatise and discourse of the Lawes of the Forest: Wherein is Declared Not Onely Those Lawes, As They Are Now In Force, But Also the Originall and Beginning of Forests: And What a Forest is In His Owne Proper Nature, And Wherein the Same Doth Differ From a Chase, A Park, Or a Warren, With All Such Things As Are Incident or Belonging Thereunto, With Their Severall Proper Tearmes of Art. As More at Large Doth Appeare in the Table in the Beginning of This Booke. Also a Treatise of the Purallee, Declaring What Purallee Is, How the Same First Began, What a Pourallee Man May Doe, How He May Hunt and Use His Owne Purallee, How Far He May Pursue and Follow After His Chase, Together With the Lymits and Boundes, Aswell of the Forrest, As the Pourallee. Collected, and Gathered Together, Aswell Out of the Common Lawes and Statutes of This Land, As Also Out of Sundrie Learned Ancient Authors, And Out of the Assises and Iters of Pickering and Lancaster. London: Printed by Thomas Wight and Bonham Norton, 1598. [xvi] pp., 167 fols., [15] pp. Quarto (5" x 7"). Eighteenth-century speckled calf, gilt spine with raised bands and lettering piece, edges rouged. A few minor scuffs to boards, some wear to corners, joints just starting at ends. Light soiling to title page, interior otherwise fresh. An attractive, well-preserved copy.  $3,000.
* First edition. Manwood’s treatise remained a standard text well into the twentieth century. Forests were central to England’s economy from the time of the conquest to the mid-seventeenth century. A member of Lincoln’s Inn, a barrister, gamekeeper of Waltham Forest and a justice of the New Forest, Manwood was eminently qualified to write it. Both a history and guide, it contains lengthy extracts from the Carta de Foresta and other ancient statutes and charters. (Some of it was taken from a privately-printed collection on the same subject Manwood issued around 1592). Manwood’s treatise went through five editions, the final appearing in 1741. It remained an authority well into the twentieth century. OCLC locates 31 copies of this edition. Sweet & Maxwell 1:465 (38). See illustration below.

85. Maslow, Robert M. “Coddling Criminals” Under the Warren Court. Washington, D.C.: Coiner Publications, Ltd., [1969]. 400 pp. Original cloth, moderate shelfwear, internally clean. Ex-library. Shelf label to spine, card pocket to front pastedown, institution stamps to edges and endleaves.  $10.

86. Morawetz, Victor. Elements of the Law of Contracts. New York: Columbia University Press, 1927. xiv, 170 pp. Original cloth, light shelfwear and soiling, internally clean. Inside flaps from dust jacket laid in. A nice copy. $85.
* Second edition, revised. According to a publisher’s note on the dust jacket, this work “was prepared principally for consideration in connection with the restatement of the law of contracts submitted by the American Law Institute for criticism.” Morawetz was one of the Institute’s founders.

87. [New Jersey]. Compiled Statutes of New Jersey. Published Under the Authority of the Legislature by Virtue of an Act approved April 12, 1910. Newark: Soney & Sage, 1911. Five volumes. [With] Cumulative Supplement to the Compiled Statutes of New Jersey 1911-1924, Both Inclusive. Published Under the Authority of the Legislature, By Virtue of Chapter 56 of the Laws of 1923, Approved March 12, 1923. Newark: Soney and Sage, 1925. Three volumes. Tan buckram, rubbed and soiled, internally clean and sound. Red and black lettering pieces with some chipping and minor loss. Institution bookplate to front pastedowns. Together eight volumes. A good set.  $250.
* With comprehensive index. Includes texts of the U.S. Constitution, the New Jersey Constitutions of 1776 and 1844 (and as amended in 1875 and 1897) and an outline history of New Jersey revisions and compilations. Covers the period from 1709 to 1910. The Cumulative Supplements cover the period from 1911 to 1924. Vol. 1: Abatement-Civil Service; Vol. 2: Claims and Oysters-Interstate Park; Vol. 3: Intoxicating Liquors-Replevin; Vol. 4: Reports-Y.M.C.A.; Vol. 5: Index; Supp. 1: Abatement to Municipal Corporations; Supp. 2: Municipalities to Wrecks; Supp. 3: Table of Session Laws.

88. [New Jersey]. Minutes of the Convention of the State of New Jersey, Holden at Trenton the 11th Day of December 1787. Trenton: Reprinted by Clayton L. Traver, 1888. 31 pp. Quarto (8" x 11"). Original marbled wrappers, worn, uncut signatures, deckle fore and bottom edges, text bright and clean.  $25.
* Facsimile of the original 1787 edition by Isaac Collins printed on heavy laid paper, limited to one hundred copies. Contains the complete minutes of the convention that resulted in New Jersey’s ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

Scarce Treatise on Illegitimacy

89. Nicolas, Sir Harris [1799-1848]. A Treatise on the Law of Adulterine Bastardy, With a Report of the Banbury Case, and of All Other Cases Bearing Upon the Subject. London: William Pickering, 1836. xvi, 588, 9 pp. Includes a nine-page annotated bibliography of the author’s works. Octavo (5-1/2" x 9"). Expertly rebacked with paper spine label over contemporary paper boards, uncut edges, front hinge repaired. Minor tear to a leaf with no loss to text, presentation inscription by author to half-title, innocuous early owner annotations to a few leaves, interior otherwise clean.  $300.
* With index and side-notes. “The following treatise is the first attempt to collect all the authorities and decisions on the law of legitimacy in this country, and to deduce from them the history and present state of the law on that important subject. (...) The author of this volume deceives himself, if a perusal of it will not convince the profession of two facts, either of which would justify its publication; first, that the law has undergone important changes, in consequence of a mistaken view having been taken of previous authorities; and secondly, that there are not sufficient grounds for the opinions which now prevail respecting the law on the subject” (Preface, vii-viii). The Banbury Case concerns a peerage claim by William Knollys [1763-1834], the natural son of the Earl of Banbury. Sweet & Maxwell 2:257.

90. Parker, Edward G. [1825-1868]. Reminiscences of Rufus Choate, Great American Advocate. New York, Mason Brothers, 1860. xii, [13]-522 pp. Steel-engraved portrait frontispiece. Original textured cloth, light shelfwear, fading to spine. Light foxing to a few leaves, interior otherwise fresh. A well-preserved copy.  $35.
* Choate [1799-1859] was an important Massachusetts lawyer and statesman. This biography is based on first-hand accounts by the author and others.

Comprehensive Treatise on

Legal Philosophy and Jurisprudence

91. Pattaro, Enrico, Editor. A Treatise of Legal Philosophy and General Jusrisprudence. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, 2005. Five volumes. Cloth. New.  $975.
* Intended for jurists and philosophers, this is a reference work by an international group of jurists that provides a comprehensive treatment of the main issues and debates in the field. (It will be complemented by a six-volume Historical Part at the end of 2006.) Volume 1: The Law and the Right, a Reappraisal of the Reality That Ought to Be by Enrico Pattaro; Volume 2: Foundations of Law by Huber Rottleuthner; Volume 3: Legal Institutions and the Sources of Law by Roger A. Shiner; Volume 4: Scientia Juris, Legal Doctrine as Knowledge of Law and as a Source of Law by Aleksander Peczenik and Volume 5: Legal Reasoning, A Cognitive Approach to the Law by Giovanni Sartor.

Rare Imprint of A Profitable Booke

That is Not Listed in Beale

92. Perkins, John [d. 1545]. A Profitable Booke of Maister Iohn Perkins, Felowe of the Inner Temple Treating of the Lawes of Englande. [London]: Apud Richardum Totell, [c.1560-1565]. [xxxviii], [1] pp., 168 fols, [1] p. Leaf C4, a blank, lacking. Octavo (3-3/4" x 5-1/4"). Very lovely late-nineteenth century maroon polished calf, blind frames to boards, raised bands and gilt titles to spine, endpapers renewed. Negligible light rubbing to spine ends and joints. Top edge gilt. The first leaf of the proem has a splendid decorated initial illuminated in gold against a blue background, main text has a woodcut decorated initial. Early underlining and brief annotations to a few leaves. Offsetting to margins of endleaves, negligible light wear and browning to a few leaves, interior otherwise fresh. A desirable copy of a rare imprint.    $4,500.
* Early edition of a work first published in 1528. Main text in Law-French, preface in Latin. A popular work during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries that was held in high regard by Coke, Perkins’ Profitable Booke went through numerous editions in both English and Law-French. Devoted mostly to the land law as developed in the Year Books, it is divided into the following topics: grants, deeds, feoffments, exchanges, dower, curtesy, wills, devises, surrenders, reservations, and conditions. According to Marvin’s Legal Bibliography (1847), “the English translations are, more or less, inaccurate, and have accumulated errors...the French editions, therefore, are generally to be preferred” (563).
 This copy does not have a publication date, but its colophon, pagination (stated above) and printing errors suggest either 1560 or 1565. The colophon reads: “Imprinted at Lon-/ don in fletestrete with-/ in temple barre, at the signe of/ the hande and starre, by/ Richarde Tottle”; leaf 154 is numbered 167. All of the imprints listed in Beale have printed dates. However, Pollard and Redgrave list two undated imprints with the provisional dates of 1560 and 1565. Records on OCLC with an identical colophon, pagination and printing errors of our copy state 1560, except for Harvard, which gives a provisional date of 1559. Our copy thus falls between the 1555 and 1567 Tottel editions. OCLC locates 7 copies. Holdsworth V:388. Pollard & Redgrave 19634/19634.5. See illustration below.

Treatise on the Roots of the English Jury

from the Library of John Marshall Gest with an

Interesting Inscription by Thomas Hollis

93. Pettingal, John [1708-1781]. An Enquiry in the Use and Practice of Juries among the Greeks and Romans; from Whence the Origin of the English Jury May Probably be Deduced. London: Printed for the Author, by W. and W. Strahan, 1769. xv, [1], 200 pp. Quarto (8-1/4" x 10-3/4"). Contemporary calf, blind fillets to boards, rebacked in period style with lettering piece and blind fillets, marbled endpapers, hinges repaired. Light rubbing and a few minor suffs, front joint just starting near head. Attractive contemporary (?) small inkstamps to versos of endleaves. Early presentation inscription by Thomas Hollis and later signature and annotation of John Marshall Gest to front endleaf. Light foxing to title page and a few text leaves, interior otherwise fresh. A very nice copy.  $950.
* Only edition. This early history of juries is enriched with numerous citations from Greek and Latin authors. “[T]he Reader (...) will be pleased to find the glorious Characteristic of this Nation, a Jury, to be originally founded in the Liberty of Greece, and handed down to us Through the Channel of the Commonwealth of Rome, and the Colonies Planted in their conquests.”: Preface xiii. Pettingal, a Doctor of Divinity and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, was a prebendary of Lincoln. The early inscription reads “An Englishman, an Assertor of Liberty at all times,/ is desirous of having the honor to present this book/ to the Radcliffe Library, at Oxford./ London, ap. 14, 1769.” “Thos. Hollis Esq.” was added to this inscription in a contemporary hand. Written below this is the signature of John Marshall Gest and the following annotation: “Purchased August 19, 1910 of B.H. Blackwell Oxford, through/ George Harding for 4/6 & 2/ postage.” Hollis [1720-1774] was an important publisher devoted to the promotion of personal liberty and radical Whiggism. Gest [1859-1934] was the author of The Lawyer in Literature and The Old Yellow Book: Source of Browning’s The Ring and The Book. OCLC locates 18 copies. Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth 1:377 (28). See illustration below.

Handsomely-Bound First Edition of

Purdon’s Abridgment

95. Purdon, John [1751-1815]. An Abridgment of the Laws of Pennsylvania, From the Year One Thousand Seven Hundred, to the Second Day of April, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Eleven. With References to Reports of Judicial Decisions in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia: Farrand, Hopkins, Zantzinger, and Company, 1811. xxxi, 637 pp. Octavo (5-1/2" x 8-3/4"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, blind fillets and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Early owner signature to head of title page, minor wear to fore-edges of a few leaves. Occasional light foxing, interior otherwise fresh.  $750.
* First edition. The laws are carefully collected and abridged under alphabetical headings, along with notes and decisions upon their construction and subsequent history. Like many works of this nature, Purdon’s Abridgment opens a window on the law and social history of the period. These qualities are particularly evident in such entries as “Negroes,” “Poor,” “Sunday” and “Wolves and Panthers.” Purdon, a member of the Philadelphia bar, served in the Pennsylvania legislature and compiled several digests of Pennsylvania laws. OCLC locates 30 copies. Cohen 5710.

96. Rheinstein, Max. Marriage, Stability, Divorce, and the Law. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, [1972]. xi, 482 pp. Cloth very good in lightly worn dust jacket.  $60.
* A penetrating legal and sociological analysis of divorce in Japan, Italy, Sweden, France, the Soviet Union and the United States by a distinguished scholar of comparative law.

98. Rossum, Ralph A. Antonin Scalia’s Jurisprudence: Text and Tradition. Lawrence: University of Kansas, 2006. 312 pp. Cloth in dust jacket. New.  $34.95
* The first book to fully articulate the contours of Scalia’s constitutional philosophy and jurisprudence, Rossum depicts Scalia as a principled, consistent and intelligent textualist who is fearless and resolute. “In this masterful study, Rossum not only elucidates Scalia’s theory of textualism and originalism, but shows how it plays out in a wide range of situations. Makes a persuasive case that Scalia’s influence-like that of other great dissenters-may well reach its height among the next generation of lawyers.”: Mary Ann Glendon (cited on dust jacket).

99. Rothwell, Andrew [1801-1883], Compiler. Laws of the Corporation of the City of Washington, To the End of the Thirtieth. Council—June, 1833: With a Digested Index; Also, An Abstract of Appropriations. To Which is Added, An Appendix, Containing Laws of the United States Relating to the City, Statements of City Finances, &c. Washington: F.W. De Krafft, Printer, 1833. [ii], viii, [5]-506 pp. Fold-out map lacking. Octavo (5-3/4" x 9"). Contemporary sheep, blind fillets to boards, blind fillets and lettering piece to spine. Moderate rubbing, dampstaining to boards, front free endpaper lacking, rear hinge cracked but secure. Light foxing and faint dampstaining to portions of text. Check marks to a few passages, interior otherwise clean. Ex-library. Location label to spine, bookplate to front pastedown, small stamp to title page.  $85.
* This was the second compilation of Washington’s laws. OCLC locates 22 copies. Babbitt, Hand-List of Legislative Sessions and Session Laws 71.

100. Salem, Morris. Reflections of a Lawyer. New York: [Morris Salem], 1911. 144 pp. Portrait frontispiece. Original cloth, some shelfwear, hinges cracked but secure, internally clean. $30.
* A collection of wry essays, a satirical law glossary and a poem about the legal profession and its foibles.

With an Interesting Inscription

101. Schouler, James [1839-1920]. Constitutional Studies, State and Federal. New York: Dodd, Mead and Company, 1897. xii, 332 pp. Octavo (5" x 7-1/4"). Original buckram, blind frames to boards, gilt titles to spine. Light rubbing to extremities, some fading and discoloration to spine. Tipped-in typed slip reading “With the compliments of the author./ 60 Congress St., Boston, Mass.” inscribed “Prof. Edward G. Bourne.” Inscription dated August 24, 1967 in ink to front free endpaper below. Internally clean.  $250.
* Only edition. The inscription reads: “Presented by Edward W. Bourne,/ son of Professor Edward G. Bourne, to/ Edward G. Bourne II, grandson of Prof. Bourne,/ for himself and his son, James Schouler Bourne,/ great-grandson of Prof. Bourne and/ great-great-great nephew of Prof. James Schouler.”

The First American Treatise on

the Law of Telegraphs

102. Scott, William L., and Milton P. Jarnagin. A Treatise Upon the Law of Telegraphs; With an Appendix, Containing the General Statutory Provisions of England, Canada, The United States, And the States of the Union, Upon the Subject of Telegraphs. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1868. xvii, 535 pp. Octavo (5-1/2" x 8-1/2"). Recent buckram with red lettering piece, endpapers renewed. Browning and tiny chip to fore-edge of title page, interior otherwise fresh. An appealing copy of a scarce title.  $500.
* Only edition. “We welcome the appearance of this treatise upon telegraphy. It is the first upon an important branch of commercial law; and its authors may, indeed, be satisfied with the result of their labors in this comparatively new field. (...) It contains a careful and complete review of all the cases which have been adjudicated upon the various subjects relating to telegraphs.... And while it is for these reasons of great value to the profession, it is for many other reasons of no less value to business men who are engaged in the practical operation of telegraphs. This treatise presents a general history of telegraphic corporations; it specifies with much care the particular rules by which they are regulated and carried on; it intelligibly defines the duties of the operator, as well as the rights of the community with regard to the employment of these companies. The chapter upon organization is of special value to business men generally. And there are other chapters so full of sound practical ideas that we heartily recommend the book to all. The general style of this treatise is excellent.”: American Law Review 3 (1868) 151-152. OCLC locates 46 copies.

Selden’s Edition of Fleta And

His Ad Fletam Dissertatio

103. Selden, John [1584-1645], Editor. Fleta, Seu Commentarius Juris Anglicani Sic Nuncupatus, Sub Edwardo Rege Primo, Seu Circa Annos ab Hinc CCCXL. ab Anonymo Conscriptus, Atque e Codice Veteri, Autore Ipso Ipso Aliquantulum Recentiori, Nunc Primum Typis Editus. Accedit Tractatulus Vetus de Agendi Excipiendiq; Formulis Gallicanus, Fet Assavoir Dictus. Subjungitur Etiam Joan. Seldeni ad Fletam Dissertatio Historica. Editio Secunda, Multis Erroribus Purgata. London: Typis S.R. Prostant Apud H. Twyford [et al.], 1685. [viii], 553 pp. 1 copperplate text illustration. Quarto (6-1/2" x 8-1/2"). Later calf, raised bands and gilt titles to spine, endpapers renewed. Light rubbing to boards and spine bands. Light foxing to a few leaves, interior otherwise fresh. An appealing copy.      $750.
* Second edition. The work by and anonymous author describes the practice of the courts, the forms of writs and an explanation of law terms as they existed during the reign of Edward I. It was John Selden who first called the attention of the public to this ancient treatise, and was instrumental in procuring its publication. While Bracton earns the highest praise as the father of legal learning, Fleta earns a share of it for the illustrations he offered to some of the obscurities found in Bracton. Selden’s appended dissertation (pp.453-553) contains many interesting observations about Bracton, Britton, Fleta, and Thornton “and shows what use was made of the Imperial law in England whilst the Romans governed here, at what time it was introduced into this nation, what use was formerly made of it, how long it continued, and when the use of it totally ceased in the King’s Courts at Westminster.”: Bridgman, A Short View of Legal Bibliography 87. Sweet & Maxwell 1:53 (20). See illustration below.

Concerns Taxation of Alcoholic Beverages

104. [Session Acts, Parliament, Great Britain]. Anno Regni Georgii II. Regis Magna Brittannia, Francia, & Hibernia, Quarto. At the Parliament Begun and Holden at Westminster, the Twenty Third Day of January, Anno Dom. 1727. In the First Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George II. By the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. And From Thence Continued by Several Prorogations to the Twenty First Day of January, 1730. Being the Fourth Session of This Present Parliament. London: Printed by the Assigns of His Majesty’s Printer, and of Henry Hills, Deceas’d, 1731. 35. pp. Folio (8" x 12"). Original printed wrappers, wear to spine with some loss, otherwise secure, chipping to top and tail edges.  $450.
* Text of an act passed in 1731 “for continuing the Duties upon Malt, Mum, Cyder, and Perry” (3) and for the materials used in their production.

The “Ancient” Right to Form Militias

105. [Sharp, Granville (1735-1813), Attributed to]. Tracts Concerning the Ancient and Only True Legal Means of National Defence, By a Free Militia. I. the Ancient Common-Law Right of Associating With the Vicenage, In Every County, District, Or Town, To Support the Civil Magistrate in Maintaining the Peace. II. A General Militia, Acting by a Well-Regulated Rotation, is the Only Safe Means of Defending a Free People. III. Remarks Concerning the Trained Bands of the City of London. IV. Hints of Some General Principles, Which May be Useful to Military Associations. London: s.n., 1781. 95, [1] pp. Octavo (5-1/2" x 8-1/2" Stab-stitched pamphlet with untrimmed edges, most signatures unopened. Edgewear and light soiling to title page and verso of final leaf, internally fresh. A well-preserved copy.  $650.
* First edition. Sharp is best-known as a social reformer and the man who initiated the British abolition movement, which led ultimately to the end of slavery in Great Britain. He was also a versatile scholar and antiquarian who wrote pamphlets on a wide variety of subjects. Like many of his works, his essays on militia are grounded on a great mass of archival information, much of it quite arcane. This pamphlet went though three editions, the final two appearing in 1782. OCLC locates 18 copies of these editions, 29 of all editions. This edition not in the BMC or Sweet & Maxwell. See illustration below.

Important Early Treatise on Parish Law

106. Shaw, Joseph [1671-1733]. Parish Law: Or, A Guide to Justices of the Peace, Ministers, Church-Wardens, Overseers of the Poor, Constables, Surveyors of the Highways, Vestry-Clerks, And All Others Concern’d in Parish Business: Compiled From the Common, Statute, and Other Authentick Books; As Also From Some Adjudged Cases Never Before Published: Together With Correct Forms of Warrants, Commitments, Indictments, Presentments, Convictions, &c. To Which is Added A Choice Collection of Precedents for Justices of the Peace, Communicated by an Able Hand. With a New and Correct Table. With Many New Cases, And the Acts of Parliament Continued to the Present Time: With Observations on the Late Vagabond Act. London: Printed by Henry Lintot, 1743. [vi], 374, [12] pp. Octavo (4-3/4" x 7-1/2"). Contemporary calf, blind frames to boards, rebacked in period style with raised bands, blind ornaments, and gilt titles, corners restored. Negligible light rubbing to extremities, a few tiny scratches to boards, wear to lower corner of front board, hinges cracked but secure. Owner inscription to rear endleaf. Offsetting to margins of endleaves, dampspotting near fore-edges of a few text leaves, interior otherwise fresh.  $250.
* Fifth edition. “A more modern and much more important unit of local government—the parish—was made the subject of a book by Joseph Shaw in 1733, which reached a tenth edition in 1763. It is a useful and clearly written summary of a topic which demanded a knowledge both of ecclesiastical law and of the common law enacted and unenacted.”: Holdsworth XII:338. OCLC locates 11 copies of this edition. Sweet & Maxwell 1:382 (26).

Rare Collection of Legal Tracts

107. Solsona, Francisco de, Editor. De Laudimiis Tractatatatus Auctorum, Qui Hactenus in ea Commentarios Conscripserunt, Nova hac Editione, Non Solum Mendis Expurgati, Et Politioribus Redditi Caracteribus, Sed Etiam Utilibus Notis Exornati, Et de Manuscriptis Principue Francisci Solsonae Nitori Pristino Restituti; Praemissa Suerunt Capitibus, Quae Antea Desiderabantur Summaria, Tumq: Subiectae ad Unamquamq; Amaedei Quaest. Elaboratae Car. Ant. Blancardi Adnotationes. His Accesserunt Indices Opportuni Quaestionum, Et Rerum Memorabilium. Quibus Singula Facile ad Materiam Attinentia Reperientur. Turin: Apud H.H. Io. Dominici Tarini, 1629. [xii] pp, 288 fols., [48] pp. Folio (9" x 14"). Contemporary vellum, gilt tiles on colored background to spine. Light shelfwear, some soiling and spotting to spine, boards slightly bowed, partial crack between front free endpaper and title page. Title page in red and black with large copperplate printer device, woodcut head-piece, tail-piece and decorated initials. Wear, small chips and minor worming to margins of some leaves with no loss to text, occasional faint dampstaining to foot of text block. Light foxing and toning in places. A nice copy of a rare title.  $2,000.
* Only edition (?). This is a collection of tracts on canon, Roman, civil and other legal topics by Amadeus de Ponte, Antonio Faber, Bertrand Argentreus, Camillo Borello, Carlo Antonio Blancardo, Solsona, Hartmann Pistor and Maurice Bourgeois. This volume appears to have been compiled from Solsono’s eighteen-volume Tractatus Universi Juris (1584-1585), an anthology of contemporary legal writings compiled under the direction of Pope Gregory XIII. OCLC locates no copies, KVK locates 3, none in the U.S. Not in the BMC or other standard references, but the collation of this copy matches the copies located online. See illustration below.

108. Spooner, Lysander [1808-1887]. The Collected Works of Lysander Spooner. Biography and introduction by Charles Shively. Weston: M & S Press, 1971. Six volumes. Cloth. New.  $225.
* This set contains thirty-four uncommon and provocative works written between 1834 to 1886 with an extensive critical biography and individual introductions. Spooner had a genius for opposing the government and his protests against governmental restraints ranged from writings on slavery and the Constitution to works on the jury system, copyright practices and the economy of a rapidly industrializing America.

Story on the Conflict of Laws

109. Story, Joseph [1779-1845]. Commentaries on the Conflict of Laws, Foreign and Domestic, In Regard to Contracts, Rights, and Remedies, And Especially in Regard to Marriages, Divorces, Wills, Successions, and Judgments. Revised, Corrected and Considerably Enlarged. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown; London: A. Maxwell and Son, 1846. xxxv [i.e. xxxiv], 1068 pp. Octavo (6" x 9"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. early owner signature to head of title page. Interior notably fresh.  $1,000.
* Third edition. Marvin considers Story’s Conflict of Laws to be the first systematic work on the subject. Referring to the second edition, he notes: “[n]o work on international jurisprudence merited, nor received, greater praise from the jurists of Europe.” (Marvin). According to Parrish, “[i]t is not too much to say that its publication constituted an epoch in the law; for it became at once the standard and almost the sole authority. (...) [It] received the honor of being practically the first American law book to be cited as authority in English courts.”: Parrish, “Law Books and Legal Publishing in America, 1760-1840,” in Law Library Journal 72:355-452, 434. Marvin 670-671. Cohen 2726.

110. Story, W[illiam] W[etmore] [1819-1895]. A Roman Lawyer in Jerusalem: First Century. Boston: Banner of Light Publishing Co., 1903. 32 pp. 5" x 7-1/2" pamphlet. Original printed wrappers, worn and lightly browned. Light toning to text, interior otherwise fresh.  $60.
* An epic poem about the betrayal and trials of Christ by Joseph Story’s son. A true “Renaissance man” who spent most of his adult life in Rome, W.W. Story was a poet, sculptor and author of treatises on contracts and sales that were standard works during the nineteenth century. OCLC locates 2 copies.

Hon. Mahlon Dickerson’s Copy

111. Sydney, Algernon, Pseudonym of Gideon Granger [1767-1822] and/or Benjamin Watkins Leigh [1781-1849]. Essays on the American System, Its Principle and Object, Originally Published in the Boston Com. Gazette, In October, 1831, Under the Signature of Algernon Sydney, And Re-Published in the Banner of the Constitution. Philadelphia: Printed by T.W. Ustick, 1831. 28 pp. Octavo (5" x 8"). Stab-stitched pamphlet, untrimmed edges. Tiny hole near center of first leaf, a few minor spots and some browning to margins of a few leaves. “Hon. Mahlon Dickerson” to head of title page, internally clean.  $100.
* An early attack on “big government,” this pamphlet denounces the American System, a group of import duties and other legislation intended to strengthen the federal government, promote American industries and fund internal improvements like roads and canals. Its principal architects were John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. Mahlon Dickerson [1770-1853] was an important New Jersey judge and politician. OCLC locates only microfilm copies. Goldsmiths’ 27175.19.

Popular Early Guide to

English Law With a Table of Fees

112. [T., G. of Staples Inn, et al.]. The Practick Part of the Law: Shewing the Office of an Attorny, And a Guide for Solicitors in All the Courts of Westminster, Viz. The Courts of Chancery, Kings-Bench, Common-Pleas and Exchequer, With the Manner of Their Proceedings in Any Action Real, Personal or Mixt, From the Original to the Execution. As Also the Practice of the Courts in the City of London, Courts of Admiralty, Ecclesistical Courts, And Other Inferiour Courts in the Country. To Which is Added the Exact Table of Fees of All the Said Courts at Westminster as They Were Delivered Into the House of Commons, With the Abstract of the Parchment and Paper Act by Order of the Queen and Council. Carefully Corrected and Enlarged by Several Practisers of the Several Courts. With a New Table of the Principal Matters. London: Printed for the Assigns of Richard and Edward Atkins, 1695. [xii], 88, [4], 24, [2], 3-16, 576, [16] pp. Includes two-page publisher list. Book is complete, but out of order: the “Exact Table of Fees” is bound before the “Pracktick Part.” Octavo (4" x 6-3/4"). Contemporary paneled calf, raised bands to spine. Light rubbing to board edges, corners bumped and lightly worn, chipping to center and ends of spine. Front hinge cracked but secure, rear pastedown separated from board, a few cracks to text block, all signatures secure. Early annotations to endleaves. Toning to a few leaves, interior otherwise fresh. A solid copy of a scarce edition.  $500.
* Later edition of a work first published in 1652. This early guide outlines the daily practice of the law in England. A useful work, it was also quite popular. It went through several editions, the final appearing in 1724. OCLC locates 9 copies of this edition. Sweet & Maxwell 1:276 (122). See illustration below.

113. Taylor, John M. Roger Ludlow: The Colonial Lawmaker. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1900. ix, 166 pp. Frontispiece. Original cloth, light shelfwear to spine ends and corners. Author presentation inscription to front free endpaper, internally clean.  $35.
* Educated at Oxford and a member of the Inner Temple, Ludlow immigrated to New England. He was Deputy Governor of Massachusetts, and one of the founders of Connecticut. His Fundamental Orders (1639) was Connecticut’s main body of laws until 1818. He also completed the first codification of Connecticut laws, known as Ludlow’s Code, in 1650.

114. Teeters, Negley K. They Were in Prison: A History of the Pennsylvania Prison Society, 1787-1837. Formerly the Philadelphia Society for Alleviating the Miseries of Public Prisons. Seventy-Five Illustrations, Photographic Work of Ellis O. Hinsey. Philadelphia: The John C. Winston Company, [1937]. xvi, 541 pp. Original textured cloth, negligible shelfwear, internally clean.  $45.

A “Standard” Work on Magna Charta in Vellum

115. Thomson, Richard. An Historical Essay on the Magna Charta of King John: to Which are Added, the Great Charter in Latin and English, the Charters of Liberties and Confirmations, Granted by Henry III and Edward I, the Original Charter of the Forests, and Various Authentic Instruments Connected With Them: Explanatory Notes on Their Several Privileges; A Descriptive Account of the Principal Originals and Editions Extant, Both in Print and Manuscript; and Other Illustrations, Derived from the Most Interesting and Authentic Sources. London: Printed for John Major, 1829. xxxii, 611, [1] pp. Lithographed frontispiece. Octavo (6" x 9-1/2"). Contemporary vellum, ornate gilt 1" floral borders and inside dentelles to boards, extra gilt spine with lettering piece, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, ribbon marker. Light soiling, front board beginning to detach from spine (but still quite secure), rear hinge starting near head. Two early armorial bookplates to front pastedown. Title page and text printed within lithographed architectural frames. Light foxing to some leaves, interior otherwise fresh. An impressive volume.  $500.
* “Contains the text of John’s charter, with a translation; also translations of the articles of the barons, the forest charter, and the confirmations of Henry III. And Edward I.; with elaborate notes, based largely on Coke’s Second Institute. This is one of the ‘standard’ works on the Great Charter”: Gross, The Sources and Literature of English History from the Earliest Times to About 1485 2019.

Uncommon 1575 Marital Law Treatise

116. Tiraqueau, Andre [1488-1558]. Regii in Curia Parisiensi Senatoris, Ex Commentariis in Pictonum Consuetudines, Sectio, De Legibus Connubialibus. Et Iure Maritali. Sexta Hac, Eademque Postrema Editioner ad Exemplar Quintae ab Ipso Autore Locupletatum, Recognita, ac Per Quam Diligentissime Castigata. Venetiis: Excudebat Dominicus Nicolinus Sumptibus Andreae Bochini Veronensis, 1575. [19], 272 leaves, [78] pp. Lacking leaf 29, some leaves misnumbered. Book measures 8" x 12.” Expertly rebacked in period style with raised bands, retaining original vellum boards. Later endpapers, reinforced. Title page woodcut, woodcut head and tail pieces throughout. Minor dampstaining to lower margin of preliminary pages. Occasional underlinings and markings in early hand. A handsome copy.  $600.
* Uncommon treatise on marital law. Originally published in Paris in 1513, the work went through two other French printings prior to this Venetian printing. Text in Latin. KVK locates 10 copies. No copies located in OCLC or BMC, which notes the editions in French. See illustration below.

117. Tremaine, John. Pleas of the Crown in Matters Criminal and Civil Containing a Large Collection of Modern Precedents. Dublin: H. Watts, 1793. Reprinted Buffalo, NY: W.S. Hein, 2003. 2 Volumes. Cloth. New.  $150.
* This English translation preserves the original pagination, along with the addition of a detailed index, as well as notes at the end of some of the precedents, and wherever errors or defects were found, marginal notes can be found that include the proper amendment or addition.

Rare Adultery Trial, New York City 1808

118. [Trial]. [Adultery]. McDougall, Alexander, Defendant. George Parker vs. Alexander M’Dougall, Being an Action for Crim. Con. Tried at the Mayor’s Court, Before the Recorder of the City of New-York. On Wednesday, The 19th of October, 1808. With the Whole of the Evidence and the Arguments of the Counsel. Taken in Short-Hand, By a Gentleman of the Bar. New York: Printed by H.C. Southwick, 1808. 53, [1] pp. Octavo (5-1/4" x 8-1/4"). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound into recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, gilt titles to spine, endpapers renewed. Toning to text, faint dampstaining and foxing to a few leaves. A handsomely bound copy of a rare pamphlet.  $750.
* Found guilty of inflicting “the cruelest injury a man could sustain” (7), McDougall was fined $250. The jury would have recommended a larger reward, but they felt Parker’s “dissolute course of life” encouraged his wife to commit adultery. OCLC locates 1 copy.

Rare Adultery Trial Involving Mistaken Identity

119. [Trial]. [Adultery]. Tyson, John, Defendant. William Jeffers vs. John Tyson, Being an Action for Crim. Con. Tried at the Late Sitting of the Court of Common Pleas, On Friday the 28th of October, Before the Honorable Pierre C. Van Wyck, Recorder of the City of New-York. With the Evidence, Arguments of Counsel, And Charge of the Judge at Full Length. Taken in Short-Hand, By a Gentleman of the Bar. New York: Printed by Henry C. Southwick, 1808. 44 pp. Octavo (5-1/4" x 8-1/4"). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound into recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, gilt titles to spine, endpapers renewed. Toning to text, spotting to first few and final leaves. A handsomely bound copy of a rare pamphlet.  $750.
* This trial involved the allegation that Tyson, a music student of Mrs. Jeffers, “seduced and debauched” Mrs. Jeffers by following her into her dark bedroom after an evening lesson and impersonating Mr. Jeffers. No copies located on OCLC.

120. [Trial]. Carswell, Donald, Editor. True, Ronald, Defendant. Trial of Ronald True. Edinburgh: William Hodge and Company, Limited, [1950]. x, 295 pp. Frontispiece. Illustrations. Cloth very good in worn dust jacket.  $20.
* Notable British Trials. New edition. “Ronald True early evinced signs of abnormality, which increased in later life when he became a drug addict, suffered from syphilis, and had two bad aeroplane crashes...Finally after living a vagabond life, True murdered a prostitute for her valuables...He was tried at the Central Criminal Court, found guilty and sentenced to death. This was later respited by the Home Secretary on the ground of insanity. A great outburst followed this decision...This case of insanity abounds in interest, especially in view of the medical defenses put forward in many cases today.”: Catalogue of Notable British Trials 17.

Court-Martial of the Sailor

Who Led the Nore Mutiny

121. [Trial]. Farquharson, George, Reporter. Parker, Richard [1767-1797], Defendant. Proceedings on a Court-Martial, Held on Board the Neptune, Of Ninety-Eight Guns, Lying Off Greenhithe, On Richard Parker, Late a Supernumerary Seaman On Board His majesty’s Ship Sandwich, For Mutiny, Disobedience of Orders, And Contempt of His Officers. To Which is Added an Account of His Execution. Accurately taken in Short-Hand. London: Printed by W. Wilson, [1797]. [ii], 45 pp. Lithographed frontispiece of Parker. Stab-stitched pamphlet bound in contemporary tree calf, gilt fillets to boards, rebacked in period style with gilt ornaments and lettering piece, hinges repaired. Rubbing to boards with some wear to corners. Light soiling to title page, negligible light foxing to a few leaves. An attractively bound copy of a rare title.  $1,500.
* Angry about impressments, unequal pay, sub-standard rations, cruel treatment by officers and poor leave entitlements, sailors at the Nore, a naval anchorage in the Thames, began a mutiny on May 20, 1797. They chose Parker, a former officer who later re-enlisted as a seaman, as their leader. Despite its hopeful beginning and Parker’s desire to mediate a settlement, the mutiny gradually fell apart. Eventually, a radical faction took the upper hand, and its demands infuriated the lords of the Admiralty. After the mutiny collapsed on June 15 Parker was brought to a court-martial on June 22. Parker argued that he did initiate the mutiny. Instead, he accepted the leadership of his fellow sailors in order to end it. He also took pains to show that the mutiny was not a rebellion against the Crown, but a response to the actions of certain officers. Despite his able self-defense his conviction was a foregone conclusion. He was hanged as a pirate and traitor on June 30. OCLC locates one copy. Dictionary of National Biography XV:268. Not in the BMC.

The Grosvenor Cause: A Notable

1770 Divorce Involving Arbitration

122. [Trial]. [Grosvenor Cause]. Grosvenor, Richard, Earl [1731-1802]. Grosvenor, Henrietta, Countess [d.1828]. Copies of the Depositions of the Witnesses Examined in the Cause of Divorce Now Depending in the Consistory Court of the Lord Bishop of London, At Doctor’s-Commons, Between the Right Honourable Richard Lord Grosvenor, And the Right Honourable Henrietta Lady Grosvenor, His Wife As They Were Severally Taken by Mss. Lushington and Haseltine, Proctors, The Examiners in the Above Cause. With an Appendix, Containing the Libel and Allegations. London: Printed for J. Russel, 1771. [viii], [1], 10-240, [8], 249-307 pp. Octavo (5" x 8"). Contemporary quarter calf over marbled boards, raised bands and lettering piece to spine. Front board just beginning to separate but secure, chip to foot of spine, some rubbing to rear joint, corners lightly bumped, rear hinge cracked but secure. Negligible foxing to a few leaves, very faint dampstaining to foot of text block. Early signature to title page, interior otherwise clean. A nice copy of a scarce item.  $850.
* Only edition. “Lady Grosvenor is described by Walpole as a ‘young woman of quality, whom a good person, moderate beauty, no understanding, and excessive vanity had rendered too accessible’ to the attentions of Henry, Duke of Cumberland, brother of George III (Memoirs, iv. 164). In an action for criminal conversation brought before Lord Mansfield in July 1770, the jury awarded 10,000l. in damages against the prince. In 1772 Lord Grosvenor settled 1,200l. a year upon his wife by arbitration.”: (DNB). This book contains the text of documents relating to the arbitration phase of the divorce. OCLC locates 10 copies. DNB VIII:723. HLC II:1090.

….and the Brother of George III

123. [Trial]. [Grosvenor Cause]. Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland (1745-1790), Defendant. The Trial of His R[oyal] H[ighness] the D[uke] of C[umberland] for Criminal Conversation with Lady Harriet G[rosveno]r. Including the Letters Which Have Passed Between His R.H. and Her Ladyship, and Were Read in Court. [London]: Bailey, Printer, 1770. 48 pp. 4-1/4" x 6-3/4" stab-stitched pamphlet in plain wrappers bound into recent period-style quarter calf over cloth. Charming woodcut title page device, head-piece and tail-piece. Light foxing to final leaf, interior otherwise fresh.  $850.
* Henry Frederick, the brother of King George III, was notorious for his—to use the language of the day—”excesses” and “irregular” life. In 1770 Richard Grosvenor, first earl Grosvenor, sued him for committing adultery (criminal conversation) with the Countess Grosvenor. Argued before the great jurist Lord Mansfield, it was one of the most colorful trials of the day. The court found in Grosvenor’s favor and ordered the Duke to pay him 10,000 guineas in damages. Short of cash, his brothers had to assist him with the payment. This pamphlet offers a vivid narrative account enlivened with a few excerpts from the transcripts, along with complete texts of the letters. The cornerstone of this case, they are occasionally quite bawdy. HLC II:1090. See illustration below.

124. [Trial]. Swan, Bradford Fuller. The Case of Richard Chasmore, Alias Long Dick. Issued at the General Court of the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations by Its Governor, Byron Sprague Watson, Esquire, and the Council of the Society, December 30, 1944. Providence: Printed for the Society by the Roger Williams Press, [1944]. viii, 26 pp. Original paper boards, paper title label to front cover. Light shelfwear, some fading to spine, internally clean. Ex-library. Location number to head of front cover, stamp to front free endpaper. An attractive fine press book.  $30.
* An interesting account of a seventeenth-century case that pitted Rhode Island against Massachusetts over the jurisdiction of Pawtuxet. Rhode Island prevailed.

Thirteen English Pamphlets from the Early 1800s With Accounts of Sensational Trials,

Many With Plates (A Few Hand-Colored)

125. [Trials]. Chamberlain, Frederick. The Cuckold’s Chronicle; Or, New Bon Ton: Being a Selection of Modern and Ancient Trials for Crim. Con. Embellished With Superb Engravings. London: Printed by J. Lee, [1808]. [20] pp. Fold-out copperplate frontispiece.

[Bound with]

Part II. Containing a Full Report of a Trial of Richard Bradley, Senior, Richard Bradley, Junior, Dentists...And William Gale, Carpenter...For a Most Extraordinary and Wanton Assault, Upon the Plaintiff, A Military Officer, For Demanding His Wife, (Daughter and Sister of the First Two Defendants) Prior to His Knowledge of Her Elopement, Which Occurred Nine Days After he Marriage, Being at That Period Some Months Pregnant, Unknown to Her Husband; Interspersed With a Great Variety of Highly Curious Documents in Elucidation Thereof, And Names of Jury, Which Has Never Yet Appeared in Any of the Public Journals. Of Which Offence, The Whole of the Above Defendants Were Tried and Found Guilty, In the Court of Common Pleas, Guildhall, Before Sir Vicary Gibbs, Knight. London: Printed and Published for the Author, 1816. [iii]-viii, 30 pp. Title page and Part I, an account of a different trial, lacking.

Jenkins, Thomas, Reporter. Liberty of the Press! Sir John Carr Against Hood and Sharpe. Report of the Above Case, Tried at Guildhall, The Sitting After Trinity Term, Before Lord Ellenborogh, And a Special Jury, On Monday, the 25th July, 1808. To which are Added Several Letters on the Subject, Written by the Earl of Mountnorris, Sir Richard Phillips, And the Author of “My Pocket Book.” London: Printed by W. Wilson for Vernor, Hood and Sharpe, 1808. [vi], 39 pp.

[Bound with]

Murders in Suffolk!! Fairburn’s Edition of the Trial of Edmund Thrower, For the Willful Murder of Thomas and Elizabeth Carter, (The Father and Daughter) At Cratfield, In the County of Suffolk, By Striking Them Several Violent Blows on the Head With a Hammer, Who Was Tried at the Suffolk Lent Assizes, Held at Bury, Before Mr. Justice Heath, March 21, 1812, and Found Guilty: Including the Evidence at Full Length. With a Plate Descriptive of the Manner in Which the Inhuman Wretch Murdered the Innocent Young Woman, At Her Father’s Window. London: Published by John Fairburn, [1812]. 30 pp. Fold-out copperplate frontispiece.

[Bound with]

The Authentic Trial of Joseph Wall, Esq. Late Governor of Goree, For the Willful Murder of Benjamin Armstrong, Taken in Short-Hand...To Which is Added a Sketch of the Governor’s Life. At the Old Bailey, On Wednesday, January 20, 1802. London: Printed By and For J. Roach, [1802]. 36 pp.

[Bound with]

The Trial of Lord Mervin Audrey, For Being an Accessory to a Rape on the Body of His Own Wife. Also, An Authentic Narrative of the Proceedings of Lady Francis Howard, Against Her Husband, The Earl of Essex, For Impotency. To Which is Annexed, The Trial of Anne Turner, Accused of Being a Bawd, a Sorcerer, and a Murderer, Together With the Trials of the Earl and Countess of Somerset, And Three Other Persons, For the Murder of Sir Thomas Overbury. London: Printed by T. Broom, n.d. 26 pp. Copperplate frontispiece.

[Bound with]

A Correct Account of the Horrible Occurrence Which Took Place at a Public-House in St. James’s Market, In Which it Was Discovered That the Right Rev. Father in God the Bishop of Clogher...Was a Principal Actor With a Common Soldier! To a Disgrace Not Only of the Cloth, To Which He Was Attached, And as a Commissioner of the Board of Education, And a Dictator of Public Morals, But as a Member of That Nation Which Gave Him Birth! London: Printed and Published by & For J.L. Marks, n.d. 24 pp.

[Bound with]

Revenge Against Murder, Seduction, & Adultery, Exemplified in the Trial and execution of James Emery, For Poisoning Sarah King, On the 29th of May, 1821; William Akers, For Murdering Patience Ellis, the 19th of June, 1821; Ann Barber, For Poisoning Her Husband, on the 16th of March, 1821; Reuben Collins, For Administering Poisonous Drugs, &c. to Hannah Stammers, Who Was Pregnant by Him. London: Printed & Sold by Jh. & H. Bailey, [1821]. 24 pp. Fold-out hand-colored copperplate frontispiece.

[Bound with]

Crim. Con. ,3,000 Damages. The Trial Between Colonel T.R. Powlett, And the Right Hon. Lord Sackville. For Criminal Conversation With the Plaintiff’s Wife. Which was Tried at the Winchester Assizes, Before Mr. Baron Graham and a Special Jury, July 28, 1808. London: Printed by J. Lee, [1808]. 36 pp. Fold-out hand-colored copperplate frontispiece.

[Bound with]

The Trial of Charles Hussey for the Murder of Mr. Bird and His House-Keeper, At Greenwich, Tried at Maidstone, On Friday, July 31, 1818. Being a Genuine Report of Mr. Searjeant Onslow’s Address to the Jury on Opening; The Examinations and Cross-Examinations at Full Length; With a Literal Copy of the Prisoner’s Solemn, Firm, Collected, And Undismayed Speech Addressed to the Jury in His Defence, &c. Also, Correct Copies of the Letters Written by the Prisoner to His Brother, Sister and Others During His Confinement. With a Correct Likeness. [London]: Published by Duncombe, [1818]. 24, [1] pp. Hand-colored copperplate portrait frontispiece and fold-out copperplate frontispiece.

[Bound with]

Report of the Trial of James Nesbett, For the Murder of Mr. Parker & Sarah Brown, At Woolwich, On Monday, The Third of March, 1820. Before Mr. Baron Wood, At Maidstone Assizes, On Friday, July 28th, 1820. For the Prosecution, Mr. Common Serjeant-Mr. Chitty. For the Defence, Mr. Andrews-Mr. Dowling. With an Account of His Execution ad Confession. London: Printed and Sold by J. Bailey, [1820]. 28 pp. Fold-out hand- colored copperplate frontispiece.

[Bound with]

The Trial at Large Between Francis Wright, Plaintiff, And G.L. Wardle, Esq. Defendant to Recover ,1914, The Amount of Sundry Articles of Furniture, Sent to Mrs. Clarke, To Which is Added Col. Wardle’s Address to the People of the United Kingdom. London: Published by S. Lee, [n.d.]. 38 pp. Hand-colored copperplate portrait frontispiece and a fold-out hand-colored plate.

[Bound with]

Biographical Memoirs & Anecdotes of the Celebrated Mrs. Clarke, Giving a True and Impartial Account of Her Adventures and Intrigues, From Her Birr h to the Present Time; With an Investigation of All the Charges Brought on Her Account Against the Duke of York. By G.L. Wardle. With a Short Sketch of the Evidence and Copies of the Various Letters Held at the Bar of the House of Commons, During Adjourned Examinations. London: Printed by W. Glendinning, [n.d.]. 24 pp. Lithographed portrait frontispiece. Text block measures 4" x 6-3/4". Contemporary calf, gilt double rules to spine, recently rebacked retaining original extra-gilt spine with raise bands and lettering piece, marbled endpapers. Some rubbing to board edges. Light soiling and minor tears to some leaves, margins of two items closely trimmed with negligible loss to text. Occasional finger smudges and offsetting, interiors otherwise fresh. A unique collection of thirteen rare items.    $2,500.

See illustration below.

Early Lawyer Advertising Relating to

Civil War Veteran Claims

126. [U.S. Civil War]. W.H. Wills & Co., U.S. Pension Attorneys and Solicitors of Claims and Patents. New Law About Horse Claims. [Washington, D.C., c.1883]. Leaflet (3" x 5-1/2).” 4 pp. Light green paper with woodcut illustrations, very good.  $125.
* Ephemeral advertisement urging veterans to use the services of W.H. Wills and Co. to exploit a recently enacted law that offers compensation for horses and equipment lost during the war. The firm also offers services to help veterans improve their pensions or receive better land grants.

Invalidy in Roman and Civil Law

127. Vantius, Sebastian [fl. 1664]. Tractatus de Nullatatibus Processuum ac Sententiarum. Nunc Hac Postrema Editione a Mendis, Quibus Scatebat, Diligenter Repurgatus. Cum Indice Rerum & Verborum Locupletissimo. Cologne: Apud Ioannem Gymnicum, 1588. [xvi], 704, [104] pp. Octavo (3-3/4" x 6-1/4"). Contemporary vellum with lapped edges, blind rules to boards, raised bands and early hand-lettered titles to spine. Soiling and a few small inkstains, some rubbing to spine ends and corners, vellum just beginning to break through pastedowns, upper corner clipped from front free endpaper. Early owner initials to title page, underlining and brief annotations to a few leaves. Faint dampstaining to fore-edge of text block, interior otherwise fresh.  $750.
* This popular study on invalidy in Roman and civil law was first published by the Aldine press in 1554 and reprinted many times over the next 50 years. OCLC locates 1 copy of this edition, KVK locates 6. 1 copy listed in the U.S. This edition not in Adams or the BMC. See illustration below.

Owned by Enos T. Throop,

a Diplomat and Governor of New York

128. Vattel, Emmerich de [1714-1767]. The Law of Nations; Or, Principles of the Law of Nature; Applied to the Conduct and Affairs of Nations and Sovereigns. A Work Tending to Display the True Interest of Powers. Translated from the French. Dublin: Luke White, 1792. lxxii, 728 pp. Octavo (5" x 8"). Contemporary calf, rebacked in period style with raised bands and original lettering piece, hinges mended. Some rubbing to boards with minor wear to corners, chipping to upper corner of text block with no loss to text. Early annotations to front pastedown, “From E.T. Throop Martin/ to/ Grenville Truman/ 1874” to front free endpaper, “Enos T. Throop/ Feb. 7. 1806” in fine hand to head of title page. Light foxing to a few leaves, interior otherwise fresh. A nice copy with an interesting association.  $600.
* Later edition. The decisive influence of this classic study may be attributed to its eclecticism. Vattel rejected the extreme claims of the natural law of nations which went back to Aquinas. Instead, he recognized that the universal law of nature might have subsidiary force when customary or consensual international law was silent. Throop [1784-1874], a New York attorney and former judge, was the twelfth governor of New York. During his time in office he hosted Alexis de Tocqueville. He was charge d’affaires for the Kingdom of Two Sicilies during the van Buren administration. OCLC locates 59 copies of this edition. Not in the BMC.

Principal Roman-Dutch Law Treatise

129. Voet, Johannis [1647-1713]. Commentarius ad Pandectas, in quo Praeter Romani Juris Principia ac Controversias Illustriores Jus Etiam Hodiernum et Praecipuae Fori Quaestiones Excutiuntur. Continet Duos & Viginti Libros Priores. Per Autorem Hac Editione Secunda Recognitos. The Hague: Apud Abrahamum de Hondt, 1707. Two volumes. Folio (8" x 13"). Contemporary paneled vellum, large arabesques to centers of boards, raised bands, hand-lettered titles to spines. Light soiling and discoloration, wear to corners, front board of Volume I somewhat bowed, its hinge starting at foot. Title pages with larger woodcut printer devices in red and black, handsome woodcut head-pieces, tail-pieces and decorated initials. Early signatures in miniscule hand to title pages, interiors remarkably fresh. A very nice set.  $650.
* Second edition. With indexes. First published in 1698-1704, this exhaustive commentary of Justinian’s Digest is one of the principal works of Roman-Dutch law. A deeply influential work that was translated into Italian, Dutch and English, it remains an authority in South Africa. Voet discusses all of the titles then explains how they were influenced by customary and local law. The second volume pays special attention to current issues relevant to the Netherlands, especially those relating to maritime law. Voet was Professor of Law at the Universities of Utrecht and Leiden. Ahsmann and Feenstra, Bibliografie van Hoogleraren in de Rechten aan de Leidse Universiteit tot 1811 1061. Dekkers, Bibliotheca Belgica Juridica 181 (9). See illustration below.

130. Walker, Albert H. History of the Sherman Law of the United States of America. New York: The Equity Press, 1910. xiii, 320 pp. Original cloth, some shelfwear to spine ends and corners, internally clean.  $35.
* “The Sherman law [1890] is a Magna Charta among the statutes of the United States. And this history of that law has been written to condense...the light relevant thereto, which was originally diffused through some thousand pages of speeches of statesmen and of decisions and opinions of judges.”: Preface iv.

“Visits, Kissing, Hand-Holding”

and “The Attempt to Shoot”

131. Wardwell, Burnham [1818-1886]. Burnham Wardwell Explains, Refers to Distinguished Gentlemen, Gives Court Testimony and Court Records. Sheriff A.B.R. Sprague Under Oath Admits the Visits, Kissing, Hand-Feeling, As Well as the Attempt to Shoot. [N.p. s.n., 1882]. [i], 48 pp. Octavo (5-3/4" x 8-3/4"). Original printed pictorial wrappers, negligible shelfwear. A few stains, creased corner and small chip to rear cover, internally clean. A well-preserved copy of a rare item.    $200.
* Wardwell was a well-respected former prison reformer who went on to become the first superintendent of the Asylum for the Incurable Insane in Rhode Island. He also sat on the grand jury that found a verdict against Jefferson Davis for treason. In 1882 he was embroiled in a scandal involving seduction and attempted murder. He was exonerated, but the ordeal damaged his health. He died four years later. Published by Wardwell, this pamphlet contains court transcripts, testimonials and the text of documents supporting his case. No copies on OCLC. See illustration below.

Uncommon 1732 English Treatise

on the Laws of Sewers

132. [Water Law]. The Laws of Sewers; Or the Office and Authority of Commissioners of. Containing, I. Their Power of Enquiry into Annoyances and Defects of Repairs of Sea-Banks and Walls, Publick Streams and Rivers, Ditches and Marsh-Grounds. II. The Authority of the Commissioners in Making Laws and Ordinances, and Imposing Rates or Taxes for Repairing the Walls, Banks, and Other Defenses. III. Of Their Power by Law as to Distresses, and Decreeing to be Sold to Levy Charges for Repairs, and Inflicting Punishments, by Fine and Otherwise. Also the Particular Offices of Bailiffs, Surveyors, Collectors, and Other Officers Under the Commissioners, and Proceedings of a Court of Sewers, Orders, Warrants, &c. To Which are Added, the Laws Relating to Rumney-Marsh, and Other Marshes and Fens. With Additions: and a New Compleat Table to the Whole. London: Printed by E. and R. Nutt, and R. Gosling, 1732. [viii], 202, 10 pp. Octavo (4-1/2" x 7-1/2"). Contemporary calf, blind fillets to boards, rebacked in period style with raised bands and lettering piece, endpapers renewed. Some wear to joints and corners, negligible rubbing and a few small inkstains to boards, front hinge starting. Occasional minor worming to text and rear pastedown. Later owner signatures to front pastedown and head of preface, occasional (very) light foxing and toning, interior otherwise fresh. An appealing copy of an uncommon work.  $1,500.
* Second and final edition of a work first published in 1726. “As there have been in all Reigns, from the earliest Time, many commissions of Sewers issued into the several counties of England, to Gentlemen of Estates and Worth therein, and the Number of the Commissioners and their Clerks, officers and Ministers under them, being great and considerable; it is very much to be admired, and a Thing very uncommon, that no Person hath hitherto attempted a particular Treatise on these laws, with the necessary Business and Practice of the commissioners of Sewers in putting them in execution. (...) And notwithstanding [Callis’ Reading Upon the Statute of 23 H. 8, Cap. 5, of Sewers (1622)] is an excellent composition, and I am obliged to that Performance for many of my Informations; yet it must be confessed, that [it] is more especially adapted to the Use of lawyers in general, than the Commissioners of Sewers, and it has not the least Precedent throughout, of their various transactions.”: Preface [iv-v]. OCLC locates 9 copies, all of this edition. Sweet & Maxwell 1:471 (10). See illustration below.

“Most Elaborate” Treatise on

English Law and the Clergy

133. Watson, William [1637?-1689]. The Clergy-Man’s Law: Or, the Complete Incumbent. Collected from the Thirty-Nine Articles, Canons, Decrees in Chancery and Exchequer, as Also from All the Statutes and Common-Law Cases, Relating to the Church and Clergy of England: Digested Under Proper Heads for the Benefit of Patrons of Churches, and the Parochial Clergy. And Will be Useful to All Students, and Practitioners of the Law. With a Table of Contents of the Chapters, and Another of the Principal Matters. To Which Are Added the Names of the Present Bishops, and Other Chief Dignitaries of the Church of England. With Large Additions and Alterations. London: Printed by Henry Lintot, 1747. iv, [8], 652, 61 pp. Folio (8" x 12-1/2"). Contemporary reversed calf, raised bands, lettering piece, blind frames and fillets to boards. Negligible rubbing, a few scuffs to spine, some wear to corners, joints just starting at head, hinges cracked but secure. Early owner bookplate and signature to front pastedown. Minor tear to fore-edge of a leaf, faint dampstaining to top and fore-edges of a few others. Occasional light toning, interior otherwise fresh. A very handsome copy.  $500.
* Fourth (and final) edition. “[During the eighteenth century a] number of books aimed at setting out more or less a summary of those branches of law which would be useful to the clergy. The most elaborate of these books is [the present title], which was first published in 1701.... The author was a clergyman who held the deanery of Battel; but he had been educated with a view to becoming a practitioner in the ecclesiastical courts, and had taken his degree of doctor of laws. Because he had had a legal education he was, he tells us ‘soon apply’d to by his neighbours, as a person able to advise them in the many doubts and difficulties that daily occurred to them.’ (...) The book deals clearly and systematically in fifty-nine chapters with the law and practice on all topics which are useful to the clergy. It is a learned book; but, as the title page indicates, it is compiled almost entirely from the English cases, statutes and other authorities, to which the full references are given. Though the author is an LL.D. he is obviously more learned in English law than in the civil or canon law.”: Holdsworth 12:622-623. Sweet & Maxwell 1:176 (127).

134. Wessels, J[ohannes] W[ilhelmus]. History of the Roman-Dutch Law. Grahamstown, Cape Colony: African Book Co., 1908. xv, 791 pp. Reprinted 2005 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. With a New Introduction by Michael Hoeflich. ISBN 1-58477-657-9. Cloth. New.  $150.
* Roman-Dutch law is a hybrid of medieval Dutch law, mainly Germanic in origin, and Roman law as defined by the Corpus Juris Civilis and its later reception. It was developed in Holland during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Bynkershoek, Damhouder, Grotius and other important Roman-Dutch scholars had a profound influence on the development of European civil law and were the primary conduit that brought civil-law ideas to America. Dutch colonists exported it to South Africa, where it became the primary component of its current legal system. This engagingly written history by a judge of the Traansvaal Supreme Court offers a thorough analysis of Roman-Dutch jurisprudence and its intellectual background. He devotes a great deal of attention to its literature, and he analyzes several treatises at length. Valuable as a introduction to one of the most important legal systems in history, it is equally useful as a reference.

135. Wheeler, Jacob D. An Introductory Lecture on Criminal Jurisprudence. Delivered in Rutger’s College, The Fifth of March, 1827. New York: Printed and Published by C.S. Van Winkle, 1827. 33 pp. Octavo (5-1/4" x 8"). Disbound pamphlet, spine secure, negligible shelfwear, light foxing throughout.    $75.
* Wheeler compiled an important set of New York criminal law reports and wrote one of the earliest American abridgments. OCLC locates 9 copies.

136. White, Stephen D. Sir Edward Coke and “The Grievances of the Commonwealth,” 1621-1628. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, [1979]. xv, 327 pp. Cloth very good in lightly rubbed dust jacket.  $20.
* In this first extended study of Coke’s career, White analyzes Coke’s highly prominent activities in the parliaments of the 1620s and discusses his attempts to remedy what he called “the grievances of the commonwealth.”

Admired Precursor to Blackstone’s Commentaries

138. Wood, Thomas [1661-1722]. An Institute of the Laws of England; Or, The Laws of England in Their Natural Order, According to Common Use. Published for the Direction of Young Beginners, Or Students in the Law; And of Others That Desire To Have a General Knowledge in Our Common and Statute Laws. [London]: Printed by E. and R. Nutt and R. Gosling, 1724. [ii], xi, [1], 663, [34], [1] pp. Includes one-page publisher list. Copperplate portrait frontispiece. Folio (8" x 12-1/2"). Contemporary calf, blind frames to boards, fillets along joints, expertly rebacked at some time retaining original spine with raised bands and lettering piece. Some very minor scuffs to boards, corners bumped and very lightly worn. Offsetting to margins of endleaves, light foxing and toning to portions of text. Early owner signature and early personal library location label (?) to front pastedown, small later private owner stamp to front free endpaper, interior otherwise clean. A very lovely fresh copy retaining all aspects of its original production and ownership.  $650.
* Third edition, Corrected. First published in 1720, Wood’s Institute was the only treatise until Blackstone’s Commentaries to furnish a comprehensive view of the common law. According to Holdsworth, it was “the most important and the most popular of his books. It was written, he tells us, to supply the want of a methodical book on English law, which could be put into the hands of students in the Inns of Court and the Universities.” Blackstone says “his work is undoubtedly a valuable performance; and great are the obligations of the student to him, and his predecessor Finch, for their happy progress in reducing the elements of law from their former chaos to a regular methodical science.’”: XII:419. OCLC locates 28 copies of this edition. Sweet & Maxwell 1:38.

Civil Law for “Persons of Quality”

139. Wood, Thomas. A New Institute of the Imperial or, Civil Law. With Notes Shewing in Some Principal Cases Amongst Other Observations, How the Canon Law, The Laws of England, And the Laws and Customs of Other Nations Differ From It. In Four Books. Composed For the Use of Some Persons of Quality. To Which is Prefix’d, As an Introduction, A Treatise of the First Principles of Laws in General; Of Their Nature and Design, And of the Interpretation of Them. London: Printed for J. and J. Knapton, 1730. [viii], 342, [6] pp. Folio (8-1/2" x 13"). Contemporary paneled calf, raised bands and lettering piece to spine. Some minor scratches and tiny scuffs to boards, light rubbing to spine ends, corners bumped and lightly worn, front hinge just starting at head. Light foxing and offsetting to endleaves, text notably fresh. A lovely well-preserved copy of an uncommon and desirable edition.  $2,000.
* Fourth and final edition. Wood’s New Institute was first published in 1704, with subsequent editions in 1712, 1721 and 1730. It was the standard Anglo-American treatise of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and a well-thumbed reference for jurists who wished to apply an element of civilian learning to their work, such as Joseph Story. As the title suggests, it is not only a summary of Roman law adapted to the needs of students of English law, but also a pioneering essay in comparative law. Wood pays some attention as well to Roman law’s influence on the historical development of English law. Indeed, he observes that “Fleta and Bracton would look very naked if every Roman lawyer should pluck away his feathers” (ix). OCLC locates 39 copies of this edition. Sweet & Maxwell VI:146. See illustration below.