 |
Cowell’s Dictionary In An Attractive Clamshell Box
15. Cowell, John [1554-1611].
The Interpreter: Or Booke Containing the Signification of Words:
Wherein is Set Foorth the True Meaning of All, or the Most Part of
Such Words and Termes, as are Mentioned in the Lawe Writers, or
Statutes of This Victorious and Renowned Kingdome, Requiring Any
Exposition or Interpretation. A Worke not Onely Profitable, but
Necessary for Such as Desire Throughly to be Instructed in the
Knowledge of Our Lawes, Statutes, and Other Antiquities.
London: Printed by John Sheares, 1637. Unpaged. Quarto (5-1/2" x
7-1/2"). Contemporary polished calf, raised bands. Wear to edges and
tips, scuffing to bands, front joint starting, wear to head of
backstrip with about 2" of loss, small chip to foot. Endleaves
lacking from front and rear, later annotations to front endleaf,
early signature in fine hand to head of title page, faint
dampstaining to margins of first few leaves, text otherwise clean
and secure. Item housed in attractive quarter-calf clamshell box
with period-style spine. An appealing copy. $1,000.
*
Second edition. The Interpreter is considered to be the best
law dictionary until Jacob’s and it is still used by scholars of
early English legal documents. Its publication provoked controversy.
At a time when Parliament and crown were vying for power, the
Commons disapproved of Cowell’s royalist sympathies, which were
evident in such definitions as “King,” “Parliament,” “Prerogative,”
“Recoveries” and “Subsidies.” When a joint committee of Lords and
Councilors reviewed the work, the ensuing controversy nearly halted
the affairs of government. What is more, it contained a quotation
critical of Littleton’s scholarship that angered Sir Edward Coke.
James I intervened in fear that his own fiscal interests would not
be approved by Parliament. Encouraged by Coke, the king imprisoned
Cowell, suppressed the book and ordered all copies burned by a
public hangman on March 10, 1610. The present edition contains
several changes that were made posthumously to placate the
dictionary’s enemies. Despite its stormy reception, The
Interpreter remains a useful gloss to Coke’s
Littleton
and other early legal texts. Marke, Vignettes of Legal History
309-312. Cowley 129.  
1684 Interpreter, The Second Edition by Manley
16. Cowel[l], John. [Manley, Tho(mas)(1628-1690)].
NOMOTHETAS. The Interpreter, Containing the Genuine Signification of
Such Obscure Words and Terms Used Either in the Common or Statute
Laws of this Realm. First Compiled by the Learned Dr. Cowel, and Now
Enlarged from the Collections of All Others Who Have Written in This
Kind. With an Addition of Many Words Omitted by All Former Writers,
and Pertinent to This Matter, with Their Etymologies as Often as
They Occur: As Also Tenures whether Jocular, or Others Statutes and
Records, Wherein the Alterations are Expressed, and their Agreement
or Dissonancy, with the Law at Present Declared. Whereto is
Subjoyned, An Appendix, containing the Ancient Names of Places Here
in England, Very Necessary for the Use of All Young Students, Who
Intend to Converse with Old Records, Deeds or Charters. The Second
Edition, Wherein Many Errors and Mistakes in the Former are
Carefully Corrected.
London: Printed by the Assigns of Richard Atkins Esq; and Sir Edward
Atkins Knight, for H. Twyford, Tho. Buffet, J. Place, and H.
Sawbridge, 1684. Unpaged. Contemporary calf, rebacked in period
style with gilt titles and gilt-edges raised bands, endpapers
renewed. Some rubbing and a few scuffs, moderate wear to edges and
corners, upper corner of rear board repaired. Some wear to margins
of endleaves, early signatures to margin of title page, interior
otherwise remarkably fresh. A desirable copy. $1,500.
*
Fifth edition, second Manley edition. Cowley 175. See
illustration below.
Fine Copy of the Penultimate Edition of Cowell’s Law Dictionary
17. Cowel[l], John. [Kennett, White].
A Law Dictionary: Or, the Interpreter of Words and Terms, Used
Either in the Common or Statute Laws of That Part of Great Britain,
Call’d England; and In Tenures and Jocular Customs.
London: B. Browne et. al., 1708. Not paginated, printed in double
columns. Complete. Includes one-leaf publisher catalogue. Folio (8"
x 13"). Contemporary unlettered calf, a few minor inkstains, lightly
rubbed. A very fresh unrestored copy. $700.
*
Penultimate edition, edited and enlarged, presumably by Kennett.
White added a preface that attacked Cowell’s detractors. Later law
lexicographers of the following century found Cowell’s work
essential. Cowley 194.
Final Edition of Cowell’s Law Dictionary
18. Cowel[l], John [1554-1611]. [Kennett, White].
A Law Dictionary: or the Interpreter of Words and Terms, Used Either
in the Common or Statute Laws of Great Britain, and In Tenures and
Jocular Customs: First Published by the Lerned Dr. Cowel, and in
This Edition Very Much Augmented and Improved, by the Addition of
many Thousand Words, Found in Our Histories, Antiquities,
Cartularies, Rolls, Registers, and Other Manuscript Records. With An
Appendix, Containing Two Tables; One of the Antient Names of Places
in Great Britain, and the Other of the Antient Surnames...
[London] In the Savoy: Printed by E. and R. Nutt and R. Gosling for
I. Waithoe, B. Lintot [and others], 1727. Unpaginated with a
one-leaf publisher’s catalogue. Folio (8" x 13"). Later full calf
with raised bands, gilt, blind-ruled boards, worn with some chipping
to edges, headband just starting. Attractive renewed marbled
endpapers. Front hinge cracked but secure, first signature detached,
two contemporary ownership signatures to title page. Minor worming
and light soiling to a few leaves, text otherwise clean and bright.
Ex-library. Institutional bookplate and shelf label to front
pastedown, small owner stamps to title page and a few leaves. $850.
*
Eighth and final edition. Cowley 216.
Final Edition of Cunningham’s Dictionary
19. Cunningham, T[imothy] [1718?-1789].
A New and Complete Law-Dictionary, or, General Abridgment of the
Law: On a More Extensive Plan Than Any Law-Dictionary Hitherto
Published. Containing not Only the Explanation of the Terms but Also
the Law Itself, Both with Regard to Theory and Practice. Also the
Interpretations of the Words Made Use of in Our Ancient Charters,
Chronicles, Histories, Records, and Registers. Together With Such
Knowledge as is Necessary to Illustrate the Antiquity of the Law and
Our Original Government and Customs in Former Times.
London: J.F. and C. Rivington, 1783. Two volumes. Folio (9" x 14").
Recent period-style quarter calf over marbled boards, raised bands
and original lettering pieces to spine, endpapers renewed. Minor
light foxing and minor edgewear to a few leaves at the ends of each
text block, interiors otherwise fresh. A handsome copy. $2,500.
*
Third and final edition. Commended by Hicks as the “first dictionary
which aimed at completeness as regards legal terms only,”
Cunningham’s comprehensive dictionary is also an abridgment that
includes summaries of cases and precedents in equity and statutes.
Along with those of Jacob and Marriot, it was one of the most
popular comprehensive English dictionaries of the period, and was
found in Thomas Jefferson’s library. The author of more than twenty
books, Cunningham was one of the most prolific legal writers of the
eighteenth century. OCLC locates 20 copies of this edition. Hicks,
Materials and Methods of Legal Research (3rd. Rev. Ed.) 247.
Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson 1814.
Sweet & Maxwell 1:8 (22). See illustration below.
Uncommon Dictionary With Many Legal Maxims and Terms
20. [Dictionary].
A Dictionary of Select and Popular Quotations, Which Are in Daily
Use: Taken From the Latin, Greek, Spanish, and Italian Languages:
Together With a Copious Collection of Law-Maxims and Law-Terms;
Translated into English, With Illustrations Historical and
Idiomatic.
New York: John B. Alden, Publisher, [n.d. (1884)]. 312 pp. 12mo.
(4-1/2" x 6-1/2"). Original cloth, light shelfwear with some minor
fraying to spine ends, internally clean. A very good copy of an
uncommon work. $250.
*
Contains English translations arranged alphabetically according to
the opening words of the quotes in their original languages. The
source of each quote is given.
The First Law-French Dictionary
21. F.O.
The Law-French Dictionary Alphabetically Digested, Very Useful for
All Young Students in the Common Laws of England. To Which is Added
the Law-Latin Dictionary: Being an Alphabetical Collection of Such
Law-Latin Words as Are Found in Several Authentic Manuscripts, and
Printed Books of Precedents, Whereby Entring-Clerks, and Others, May
be Furnished with Fit and Proper Words, in a Common Law Sense, for
Any Thing They Shall Have Occasion to Make Use of, in Drawing
Declarations, or Any Parts of Pleading. Also, A More Compendious and
Accurate Exposition of the terms of the Common Law
(Interspers’d Throughout) Than in any Hitherto Extant,
Containing Many Important Words of Art Used in Law Books. Collected
Out of the Best Authors by F.O.
London: Printed for Isaac Cleave and John Hartley, 1701. Two Volumes
in one, each with title page. Unpaginated. Octavo (4-1/2" x 7-1/2").
Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and
lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Later signature to head
of first title page. Light toning to margins, interior otherwise
fresh. A handsome copy. $1,250.
*
First edition. This landmark work was the first dictionary written
to aid lawyers in the translation of the Year Books, old deeds and
other early documents. Each definition carries one or more
references to examples in works by such authors as Brook, Coke,
Crompton, Fitzherbert, Littleton and Plowden. The second part is a
Latin dictionary that aimed to assist attorneys in the drafting of
pleadings. Sweet & Maxwell 1:9.
A Rare Layman’s Guide With a Dictionary
22. A Gentleman of the Barr [sic].
Every Man’s Lawyer and Conveyancer: Containing All the Useful Forms
Necessary in Mercantile and Money Transactions; The Whole Laid Down
in So Plain a Manner, As To Enable Every Person To Transact His Own
Concerns, Without the Assistance of a Lawyer. Also Many Important
Decisions of Courts, To Which is Added An Abridged Law Dictionary
Together With Other Useful Information.
Philadelphia: Royer & Lesher, 1836. 108 pp. Octavo (4-1/2" x
6-1/2"). Contemporary quarter sheep over printed paper boards.
Moderate wear to extremities with some chipping to head of spine,
fading and a few minor stains to boards, rear free endpaper lacking.
Light foxing, internally clean. A solid copy of a rare title. $250.
*
Second edition. Each form is followed by notes and citations. The
dictionary, which is printed in small type, is on pp. 88 to 104.
OCLC locates 4 copies. Cohen 8230.
Second Edition of Jacob’s Dictionary
23. Jacob, Giles [1686-1744].
A New Law-Dictionary: Containing, The Interpretation and Definition
of Words and Terms Used in the Law; and Also the Whole Law, and the
Practice Thereof, Under All the Heads and Titles of the Same.
Together With Such Informations Relating Thereto, as Explain the
History and Antiquity of the Law, and Our Manners, Customs, and
Original Government. Collected and Abstracted From All Dictionaries,
Abridgments, Institutes, Reports, Year-Books, Charters, Registers,
Chronicles, and Histories, Published to This Time. And Fitted for
the Use of Barristers, Students, and Practisers of the Law, Members
of Parliament, and Other Gentlemen, Justices of Peace, Clergymen,
&c. With Large Additions. To Which is Annexed, a Table of References
to All the Arguments and Resolutions of the Lord Chief Justice Holt;
In the Several Volumes of the Reports.
London: Printed by E. and R. Nutt, and Richard Gosling, 1732.
Unpaginated. Main text printed in double columns. Folio (8-1/2" x
13-1/2"). Contemporary calf, raised bands, lettering piece. Some
rubbing with wear to board edges, a few scuffs to boards, corners
bumped and worn, some chipping (and residue from cloth tape) to
spine ends, boards loose but holding. Front free endpaper detached.
Early signature to front pastedown, occasional light browning,
interior otherwise fresh. $1,200.
*
Second edition. As Cowley has pointed out, A New Law-Dictionary
was both Jacob’s masterpiece and “an entirely new departure in legal
literature” that provided a model for several subsequent efforts. In
contrast to earlier works, each entry summarizes all of the laws
relating to the subject and offers extensive interpretive
commentary. Obsolete terms are omitted. It was recognized almost
immediately that Jacob created a highly useful legal encyclopedia
that was more detailed and concise than any other abridgment of the
period. An extremely popular work that went through twelve editions
between 1729 and 1800, it offers unparalleled insights into
Anglo-American law during the eighteenth century. Cowley
xc-xci, 223. Sweet & Maxwell 1:9 (33). See illustration below.
Last Edition Published During Jacob’s Lifetime
24. Jacob, Giles.
A New Law-Dictionary: Containing, The Interpretation and Definition
of Words and Terms Used in the Law; and Also the Whole Law, and the
Practice Thereof, Under All the Heads and Titles of the Same.
Together With Such Informations Relating Thereto, as Explain the
History and Antiquity of the Law, and Our Manners, Customs, and
Original Government. Collected and Abstracted From All Dictionaries,
Abridgments, Institutes, Reports, Year-Books, Charters, Registers,
Chronicles, and Histories, Published to This Time. And Fitted for
the Use of Barristers, Students, and Practicioners of the Law,
Members of Parliament, and Other Gentlemen, Justices of Peace,
Clergymen, &c. The Fifth Edition, with Great Additions and
Improvements, and the Law-Proceedings Done Into English. To Which is
Annexed, a Table of References to All the Arguments and Resolutions
of the Lord Chief Justice Holt; in the Several Volumes of the
Reports.
London: Printed by Henry Lintot, 1744. Unpaginated. Main text
printed in double columns. Folio (8-1/2" x 13-1/2"). Contemporary
calf, rebacked retaining original backstrip and lettering piece,
endpapers renewed. Rubbing and a few scuffs and chips to boards,
wear to corners and board edges with some loss. Minor tears to title
page expertly mended. Early signature to title page, occasional
light foxing, interior otherwise fresh. A nice copy. $850.
*
Fifth edition, and the last edition published during the author’s
lifetime. Sweet & Maxwell 1:9 (33).
Sixth Edition of Jacob’s Seminal Dictionary
25. Jacob, Giles. [Holt, Sir John (1686-1744)].
A New Law-Dictionary: Containing, The Interpretation and Definition
of Words and Terms used in the Law; and Also the Whole Law, and the
Practice Thereof, Under All the Heads and Titles of the Same.
Together With Such Informations Relating Thereto, as Explain the
History and Antiquity of the Law, and our Manners, Customs, and
Original Government. Collected and Abstracted From All Dictionaries,
Abridgments, Institutes, Reports, Year-Books, Charters, Registers,
Chronicles, and Histories, Published to This Time. And Fitted for
the Use of Barristers, Students, and Practicioners of the Law,
Members of Parliament, and Other Gentlemen, Justices of Peace,
Clergymen, &c.
The Law-Proceedings Being Done Into English, with Great Additions
and Improvements to this Time. To Which is Annexed, a Table of
References to All the Arguments and Resolutions of the Lord Chief
Justice Holt; in the Several Volumes of the Reports.
London: Printed by Henry Lintot, 1750. Unpaginated. Main text
printed in double columns. Folio (9" x 14"). Contemporary calf,
raised bands, blind-stamped frame and fillets to boards, skillfully
rebacked retaining original lettering piece, hinges mended. Rubbing
and a few scuffs to boards, moderate wear to edges. Early armorial
bookplate and small shelf location label to front pastedown,
chipping to bottom edge of rear endleaf, interior clean and bright.
Appealing. $850.
*
Sixth edition. Sweet & Maxwell 1:9 (33).
First Tomlins Edition, 1797
26. Jacob, Giles. Tomlins, Sir Thomas Edlyne [1762-1841].
The Law-Dictionary: Explaining the Rise, Progress, and Present
State, of the English Law, in Theory and Practice; Defining and
Interpreting the Terms or Words of Art; and Comprising Copious
Information, Historical, Political, and Commercial, on the Subjects
of Law, Trade, and Government. Originally Compiled by Giles Jacob;
And Continued by Him, and Other Editors, Through Ten Editions: Now
Greatly Enlarged and Improved, by Many Material Corrections and
Additions, From the Latest Statutes, Reports, and other Accurate
Publications; By T.E. Tomlins, of the Inner Temple, Barrister at
Law.
London: Andrew Strahan, Law Printer to the King’s Most Excellent
Majesty, 1797. Two volumes. Quarto (8-1/2" x 11"). Contemporary half
calf over marbled boards, worn, hinges cracked but secure. Original
gilt-decorated spine lettering piece. A handsome set in an
unrestored state. $1,000.
*
The first Tomlins edition. Tomlins edited and substantially enlarged
the later editions of Jacob’s dictionary in 1797, 1809 and 1810, and
he used Jacob as a model when he published his dictionary in 1811.
In addition to definitions, Tomlins added citations to the vast
number of statutes at large, term reports in the several courts,
parliamentary reports and recent treatises and other sources that
had been published since Jacob’s death. The editions of Jacob by
Tomlins and, for a brief time, Tomlins’s own dictionary were
standard works in the early 1800s. They were eventually supplanted,
in England, by Wharton’s Law Lexicon (1848) and, in the
United States, Bouvier’s Law Dictionary (1839). Sweet &
Maxwell 1:9 (33). See illustration below.
1809 Edition of Jacob’s Law Dictionary
27. [Jacob, Giles]. Tomlins, Sir Thomas Edlyne.
The Law Dictionary, Defining and Interpreting the Terms or Words of
Art, and Explaining the Rise, Progress, and Present State of the
English Law; Defining or Interpreting the Terms or Words of Art; and
Comprising Copious Information on the Subjects of Law, Trade, and
Government.
With Considerable Additions. London: Printed by Andrew Strahan,
1809. Two volumes. Signature 5M in Volume II misbound after
signature 4M in Volume I. Quarto (8-1/4" x 10"). Contemporary calf,
raised bands, lettering pieces, blind-stamped frames to boards. A
few scuffs to boards, wear to corners, chipping to spine ends,
joints and front hinges cracked but secure. Early armorial
bookplates to front pastedowns. Clean tear to a leaf in Volume I,
interiors notably fresh. An appealing set. $900.
*
Second Tomlins edition. According to Marvin, this edition is the
best one. Marvin 418. Sweet & Maxwell 2:183.
First American Edition of Jacob’s Dictionary
28. Jacob, Giles. [Tomlins, Thomas Edlyne].
The Law-Dictionary: Explaining the Rise, Progress, and Present State
of the English Law; Defining and Interpreting the Terms or Words of
Art; And Comprising Copious Information on the Subjects of Law,
Trade, and Government. Corrected and Greatly Enlarged.
New York: Printed for, and Published by I. Riley, 1811. Six volumes.
Octavo (5-1/2" x 9"). Contemporary calf, blind fillets to boards,
rebacked in period style with blind fillets and lettering pieces,
endpapers renewed. Early owner signatures to heads of title pages.
Light toning throughout, dampstaining to top edge of Volume I. An
attractively bound copy of an uncommon set. $2,500.
*
First American edition, from the second Tomlins edition, 1809. Cohen
5446. |
|
