4. Abbott, Frank Frost (1860-1924) and Allan Chester Johnson (1881-1955). Municipal Administration In The Roman Empire. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1926. Reprint. Mansfield Centre, Conn.: Martino Publishing, 2006. vii., [4], 3-598, [1] pp. Cloth. New.  $90.
* More than half of the six hundred pages of this volume are devoted to original documents in Latin and Greek, numbered, listed and indexed. “Of fifteen chapters seven were written by Professor Abbott. Roughly speaking the later period of the Empire and the eastern parts have fallen to the share of Professor Johnson... [The book] is a model of scholarly diligence, organization and collaboration, which will introduce specialists to all the literature bearing upon the subject to date, and will also constitute a dependable source of information for workers in allied fields. The volume takes its place at once as an outstanding monument of American classical scholarship.”: N.W. de Witt, Classical Philology 22, No. 4 (Oct. 1927) 440-441.

5. [Africa. Congo. French West Africa. German East Africa]. Land Legislation in the Conventional Congo Basin: Text of the German Decree: the Land Policy in French West Africa. Brussels: Hayez, 1904. 16 pp. Octavo (6" x 9"). Softbound pamphlet, light soiling and edgewear, one corner of rear cover lacking. Signature of O. J. Marston to head of front cover, internally clean. Uncommon.  $95.
* Contains an “Ordinance to Protect the Forests in German East Africa” and a “Decree Organising the Public Property in French West Africa.” OCLC locates 9 copies.

Study of Roman Legal Terms With

Contributions by Alciati

6. Alciati, Andrea[s] [1492-1550]. De Verborum Significatione, Libri IIII; Eiusdem in Titulum XVI. Lib. L. Digestorum Commentarii. Accessit Index Locupletissimus. Lyons: Impensis Ant. Gryphii, 1565. 214, [2], 99, [6], 635, [48] pp. Octavo (4" x 6-1/4"). Contemporary panel-stamped vellum, raised bands and later paper title label to spine. Moderate soiling, moderate rubbing to extremities, corners bumped and lightly worn, vellum scratched along lower edge of rear board, joints and hinges just starting. Attractive woodcut printer device to title page, woodcut initials. Some wear and soiling to edges of preliminaries and final index leaves. Occasional light browning and dampstaining. Early owner signature to title page, interior otherwise clean. Ex-library. Location label to spine. A nice copy of a scarce title.  $1,250.
* With index. Second (?) edition of a work first published in 1530. With index and side-notes. “De Verborum Significatione” [Concerning the Signification of Terms] is Book 50, Title 16 from the Digest of Justinian. It is a glossary of legal terms and legal interpretations of words like “city” and “child” with commentary by Ulpian, Gaius and other scholars. Alciati’s commentaries and notes are based on lectures delivered during his years in Avignon (1518-1522). The complete text “De Verborum” is included as an appendix. An important Italian humanist and professor of law at Avignon, Bologna, Milan, Padua, Ferrara and Bourges, he was one of the first jurists to base his interpretation of civil law on the history, languages and literature of antiquity, and to conduct original research on the texts rather than merely copy earlier glosses. His work was deeply influential and his services were retained by the kings of France and Spain, as well as by several Italian princes. Adams, Catalogue of Books Printed on the Continent of Europe, 1501-1600 A594. See illustration below.

1776 Compilation of New Jersey Acts

7. Allinson, Samuel [1739-1791], Compiler. Acts of the General Assembly of the Province of New-Jersey, from the Surrender of the Government to Queen Anne, on the 17th Day of April, in the Year of Our Lord 1702, to the 14th Day of January 1776. To Which is Annexed, The Ordinance for Regulating and Establishing the Fees of the Court of Chancery of the Said Province. With Three Alphabetical Tables, And an Index. Compiled and Published under the Appointment of the General Assembly, and Compared with the Original Acts. Burlington: Printed by Isaac Collins, 1776. viii, 493, [1], 6, 6, 4, 4, 3, [1], 15 pp. Folio (9" x 13"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Toning throughout, light foxing and dampstaining to portions of text, inkstains and spark burns to a few leaves. Early signatures and annotations to front endleaves (of John and Jeremiah Bennett), interior otherwise clean. A handsome copy of important imprint.  $1,500.
* First edition. The last compilation of New Jersey’s colonial-era laws, commonly referred to as Allinson’s Laws, provides a portrait of life in New Jersey from 1702 to the landmark year, 1776. It addresses such topics as the regulation of ammunition, jails, constables, roads, conservation, corruption, marriage, militia and taxes. This handsome copy was printed by the New Jersey printer, Isaac Collins, a Quaker known for the excellence of his work. After the death of the appointed printer “to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty” James Parker in 1770, Collins took over Parker’s business. He achieved additional renown in 1777 as the printer of The New Jersey Gazette, the first regularly published weekly newspaper in the state. OCLC locates 44 copies. The Charlemagne Tower Collection of Colonial Laws 166. See illustration below.

“The Imperfections of Circumstantial Evidence”

Pioneering American Work on Adverse Enjoyment

9. Angell, Joseph K. [1794-1857]. An Inquiry Into the Rule of Law Which Creates a Right to an Incorporeal Hereditament, By an Adverse Enjoyment of Twenty Years. With Remarks, On the Application of the Rule to Light, and in Certain Cases to a Water Privilege. Boston: Hilliard, Gray, Little and Wilkins, 1827. vi, [1], [9]-117 pp. Octavo (5-1/4" x 8-1/2"). Contemporary sheep, blind fillets to boards, red leather lettering piece and blind fillets to spine. Light rubbing to spine and edges. Early owner stamps to front and rear pastedown. Offsetting to margins of endleaves, light browning to a few leaves, interior otherwise fresh. A nice copy.  $650.
* Only edition. One of Angell’s principal works, it is probably the first systematic American work on easements, and among the earliest on the topic in Anglo-American literature (Holdsworth cites Gale, 1839, as the starting point of the modern law of easements). Exhibiting an impressive command of Roman and Civil law precedent, it also contains interesting material on the rule of ancient lights, the law of nuisances and water rights. Angell was one of America’s first significant legal scholars. His works were esteemed highly by Kent and Story; several were required reading at Harvard Law School. OCLC locates 39 copies. Holdsworth, History of English Law VII:321ff. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 9575. See illustration below.

10. Ashley, Clarence D. Legal Education and Preparation Therefor: A Paper Read Before The Section of Legal Education of the American Bar Association At Its Annual Meeting Held at Denver, Col. August 23, 1901. New York: [s.n.], 1901. 13 pp. Pamphlet, light shelfwear, small stamp (with serial number?) to head of front cover, internally clean. Sheet reading “With the Compliments of Clarence D. Ashley, New York City” tipped-in to title page.  $95.
* Ashley was Dean of New York University Law School. OCLC locates 8 copies.

“Of Great Practical Value to the Profession”

11. Bailey, William H. The Conflict of Judicial Decisions. Baltimore: M. Curlander, 1888. xciv, 445 pp. Octavo (6" x 9"). Contemporary sheep, blind rules to boards, raised bands and red and black lettering pieces to spine. A few minor stains, chipping to spine ends, boards partially detached but secure. Early owner signature to front free endpaper. Offsetting to margins of endleaves, interior otherwise clean.   $250.
* Only edition “This work is peculiar in one respect. There is, so far as we know, nothing like it in our legal literature. It is not, as might be supposed, a treatise on the conflict of laws, but the author’s design is to show how the various courts have differed in their judgment of certain important subjects. The great usefulness of the work cannot fail to be appreciated by any lawyer who will carefully examine it. (...) The work is certainly one of great practical value to the Profession.”: The Green Bag 1 (1889) 180.

“The Surprising Case of Rachel Baker”

12. [Baker, Rachel]. Mais, Charles, Stenographer. The Surprising Case of Rachel Baker, Who Prays and Preaches in Her Sleep: With Specimens of Her Extraordinary Performances Taken Down Accurately in Short Hand at the Time; And Showing the Unparalleled Powers She Possesses to Pray, Exhort, And Answer Questions, During Her Unconscious State. The Whole Authenticated by the Most Respectable Testimony of Living Witnesses. New York: Published by Whiting and Watson, 1814. 32 pp. Octavo (5-1/2' x 9"). Disbound pamphlet, some wear and minor chipping to edges. Toning, occasional light foxing, internally clean. Ex-institution library. Small embossed stamps to first and final leaf, tiny stamp to p. 2.   $150.
* Second edition. “Rachel Baker about twenty years old, experienced at the age of fourteen some religious concern, and in consequence thereof joined the Presbyterian Church in the county of Onondaga New York. Becoming uneasy two years afterwards she underwent a religious submersion and became a member of the Baptist church. (...) Once a day for about three years, or from the time of her second baptism, she has suffered a paroxysm which usually continues an hour. (...) It commences with spasmodic agitation, heaviness of respiration, and anxiety, but differs from fevers of the intermittent type, in having neither a cold, a hot, nor a sweating stage” (5-6). Shaw & Shoemaker, American Bibliography 32003.

The 1867 Bankruptcy Law

13. [Bankruptcy]. [United States]. The United States Bankrupt Law Approved March 2, 1867. With Marginal Notes. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Co., 1867. 39 pp. Octavo (5-3/4" x 8-3/4"). Stab stitched pamphlet in printed wrappers. Wrappers worn, soiled and partially detached, early owner signature, inkstamp and embossed stamp to front cover. Vertical crease through center of pamphlet, internally fresh.   $125.
* The Bankruptcy Act of 1867 was the third attempt to create a Federal bankruptcy system. The first two acts, passed in 1800 and 1841, both lasted about a year. Never popular, they were seen as safeguards for financial recklessness and were allowed to expire. Other attempts, most notably a bill proposed in 1841 by Daniel Webster, were defeated. Around 1865, however, Congress began to see bankruptcy protection as a way to encourage the economic redevelopment of the devastated southern states and the expansion of the national post-war economy. These needs informed the passage of the 1867 act.

“Among the Most Valuable Documents of

American Penological Literature”

14. Barrows, S[amuel] [1845-1909]. The Criminal Insane in the United States and in Foreign Countries. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1898. 81 pp. Octavo (5-3/4" x 9"). Original printed wrappers, minor chipping near spine ends, two stab holes along spine, “1893” in pencil to front wrapper, internally clean. A sound copy.  $100.
* Senate Document 243. Barrows addresses conditions in each state, Canada, and many foreign countries, mainly European. This report, Barrows’s most important work, reflects his long career as a prison reformer. The Dictionary of American Biography includes it “among the most valuable documents of American penological literature.” A Unitarian minister by training, he was secretary of the prison association and also a commissioner for the United States on the International Prison Commission. Dictionary of American Biography I:652-53.

“An Authority in Mercantile Customs”: Kent

15. Beawes, Wyndham [fl. 1775]. Mortimer, Thomas, Editor. Lex Mercatoria Rediviva: Or, The Merchant’s Directory. Being a Complete Guide to All Men in Business; Whether as Traders, Remitters, Owners, Freighters, Captains, Insurers, Brokers, Factors, Supercargoes, Agents. Containing an Account of Our Mercantile Companies; Of Our Colonies and Factories Abroad; Of Our Commercial Treaties with Foreign Powers; Of the Duty of Consuls, And of the Laws Concerning Aliens, Naturalization, and Denization. To Which Is Added, a Sketch of the Present State of the Commerce of the Whole World; Describing the Manufactures and Products of Each Particular Nation; With Tables of the Correspondence and Agreement of Their Respective Coins, Weights, and Measures. Extracted from the Works of the Most Celebrated British and Foreign Commercial Writers. The Whole Equally Calculated for the Information and Service of the Merchant, Lawyer, Member of Parliament and Private Gentleman. Considerably Enlarged and Improved. London: Printed for J. Rivington, and Sons, [et. al.], 1783. vi, [6], 944 [16] pp. Fold-out table. Folio (9-1/2" x 15-1/2"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and contemporary lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Clean tear to license leaf, toning, occasional light foxing. Early owner signature to head of title page, brief annotations to a few leaves, interior otherwise clean. A handsome copy.  $850.
* Reissue of the fourth edition. Beawes was a merchant and his book was intended to be “a guide to all men in business.” Nonetheless the Lex Mercatoria was often cited in court, and its authority formed the basis of several decisions. It was especially influential in the United States, where, according to Kent, it was “an authority in mercantile customs.”: Kent, Commentaries on American Law III:126. OCLC locates 37 copies of this edition. Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth 1:518-19 (7).

“A Mine of Mercantile Law”

16. Bell, George Joseph [1770-1843]. Commentaries on the Laws of Scotland, And On the Principles of Mercantile Jurisprudence, Considered in Relation to Bankruptcy; Competitions of Creditors; And Imprisonment for Debt. Edinburgh: Printed by Alex. Lawrie & Co. for Archibald Constable, 1810. xv, [xv], xvi, 639, xlvi, 23, [1] pp. Quarto (9" x 11"). Contemporary three-quarter calf over marbled boards, recently rebacked in period style with lettering piece and blind fillets, hinges mended. Moderate rubbing with some edgewear, corners bumped and somewhat worn. Toning to text, light foxing in a few places, internally clean. A handsome copy of a scarce edition.  $750.
* Second edition. According to Walker, this of-cited work “ranks among the half-dozen classics of Scottish legal literature.” According to Marvin, American jurists regarded the sections on commercial law as an authority of “high approbation” and a “mine of mercantile law.” KVK locates 13 copies of this edition, OCLC locates 1. Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law 122. Marvin, Legal Bibliography (1847) 108. Sweet & Maxwell 5:10.

Quarto Edition of

Blackstone’s Commentaries, Eller 5.

17. Blackstone, Sir William [1723-1780]. Commentaries on the Law of England. In Four Books. Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, 1770. Four volumes. Quarto (8-1/2" x 10-1/2"). Contemporary calf, blind fillets to boards, raised bands, black-stamped volume numbers and lettering pieces to spines. Light rubbing to extremities, a few scuffs to boards, corners lightly bumped, front joints of Volumes III and IV starting, as are both joints of Volume I. Early armorial bookplate to each pastedown, annotations in early hand to rear endleaves. Offsetting to margins of endleaves, some soiling to title pages, negligible foxing to a handful of leaves, interiors otherwise fresh. An appealing unsophisticated set.  $3,750.
* Fourth edition. This edition is called the fourth on the title-page of all volumes, despite there being no revision of volumes three and four before 1770; this edition also abbreviates Blackstone’s preface to three paragraphs from the five appearing in the first edition (Eller). “The intention of [Blackstone] was to give a comprehensive outline; and when we consider the multiplicity of doctrine which he embraced, the civil, the criminal, the theoretical and practical branches of the law, we must confess the hand of a master.”: Marvin, 125. Eller, The William Blackstone Collection in the Yale Law Library 5. See illustration below.

Eller 144: The First Edition by Browne

18. Blackstone, Sir William. Browne, William Hardcastle 1840-1906], Editor. Commentaries on the Laws of England, In One Volume, Together With a Copious Glossary of Legal Terms Employed; Also, Biographical Sketches of Writers Referred to; And a Chart of Descent of English Sovereigns. New York: L.K. Strouse & Co., 1892. xv, 808 pp. Octavo (6" x 9"). Contemporary sheep, blind rules to boards, recently rebacked in period style with raised bands and lettering piece to spine, hinges repaired. Light rubbing and a few scuffs to boards, corners bumped and lightly worn. Light toning to margins, interior otherwise fresh. A very nice copy of a scarce edition.   $450.
* First Browne edition. Two interesting features are the biographical notices of writers cited by Blackstone on pp. 749-754 and the glossary of legal terms on pp. 755-778. Eller 144.

Dublin Edition of Blackstone’s Law Tracts, Eller 239

19. Blackstone, Sir William. Law Tracts, Containing, I. An Essay on Collateral Consanguinity, Its Limits and Duration. II. Considerations on the Question Whether Tenants by Copy of Court Roll, According to the Custom of the Manner, Though Not at the Will of the Lord, Are Freeholders Qualified to Vote in Elections for Knights of the Shire. III. The Law of Descents in Fee-Simple. IV. The Great Charter and Charter of the Forest, With Other Authentic Instruments: To Which is Prefixed an Introductory Discourse Containing a History of the Charter. Dublin: Printed for Elizabeth Watts, 1767. vi, 136, [2], 87, cxiv, [2], 105, [1] pp. Two tables, one fold-out. Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Toning to text, negligible light foxing to some leaves. Early owner signature to head of title page in fine hand, interior otherwise clean. A handsome copy.  $1,500.
* Dublin reprint (in one volume) of the first (two volume) Oxford edition (1762). This book collects four essays by Blackstone that were published before he began work on the Commentaries (published 1764-69). Material from the first three essays, which were originally published in 1750, 1758 and 1759, were incorporated into the Commentaries. The final essay, a critical edition of Magna Charta with an interpretive essay, was originally published in 1759. The first critical edition of the charter, it established Blackstone’s reputation. According to Eller, there is no bibliographical record of a second edition, so she cites this as the following edition. Due perhaps to a typographical error, Eller’s collation omits the 87-page Treatise on the Law of Descents. Eller 239. See illustration below.

Copy of an Important Treatise on

Copyright with an Interesting Association

20. Bowker, Richard Rogers [1848-1933]. Copyright: Its History and Its Law. Being a Summary of the Principles and Practice of Copyright with Special Reference to Books. With a Bibliography of Literary Property by Thorvald Solberg. New York: Office of the Publishers’ Weekly, 1886. [vi], 55, [16], [4], 60 pp. Main text printed in double columns. Solberg’s bibliography has its own title page and pagination. Quarto (7-1/4" x 9-1/4"). Original quarter calf over moire cloth, rebacked retaining original spine with raised bands and lettering pieces. Rubbing to extremities with some wear, front joint starting at ends. Stamp of Frederick Wolsey Pratt to front pastedown, signature of F. Alcott Pratt dated June 10, 1886 to front endleaf, his inkstamp to front pastedown and head of title page. Text clean and fresh.  $650.
* First edition. This is a popular handbook based on a series of articles written for Publishers’ Weekly. This copy has an interesting association. F. Alcott Pratt was the nephew of Louisa May Alcott. he became the trustee of her literary estate after her death in 1888. (Frederick Woolsey Pratt was F. Alcott’s son.) Another interesting feature is the facsimile of a 16-page petition urging the U.S. Congress to pass an international copyright law. It bears the signatures of Luisa May Alcott, Henry Adams, Henry Ward Beecher, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), Sarah Orne Jewett, Francis Parkman, Walt Whitman and other notable American authors. “This is a very intelligent and convenient compilation.”: Albany Law Journal 33 (1886): 401.

21. Bragg, Charles. Charles Bragg on the Law: A Sardonic View of Our Fun- Filled Legal System in Action. 35 Images by Charles Bragg. Introduction by Pat McCormick. [New York]: Warner Books, [1984]. [78] pp. Softbound, light shelfwear, internally pristine.  $45.
* First edition.

“First-Rate” Study on

the Origins of the English Legal Profession

22. Brand, Paul. The Origins of the English Legal Profession. Oxford, UK, and Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1992. ix, 236 pp. Cloth very good in lightly worn dust jacket. Author inscription to front free endpaper, internally clean.   $125.
* An expert on early English archival sources and the beginnings of English legal education, Rand was an Assistant Keeper at the Public Records Office in London and a Professor of Legal History at the University of Dublin. “[L]egal historians will surely agree that their high expectations have been fulfilled by a first-rate first book.”: Wilfred Priest, Tijdschrift voor Rechtsgeschiedenis 61 (1993) 552.

Handsome Etching of Brandeis by Notable

New York Realist

23. [Brandeis, Louis D. (1856-1941)]. Meyerowitz, William [1887-1981], Artist. [Etched Portrait of Brandeis, Signed by Brandeis and Meyerowitz]. Approximately 9" x 11" image in handsomely matted and glazed 16” x 20” frame. [N.p., n.d.]. Large signature of Brandeis directly below image, large signature of Meyerowitz in pencil near lower margin.   $1,500.
* William Meyerowitz was a notable New York realist who knew and exhibited with Robert Henri, John Sloan, Edward Hopper, William Zorach, Milton Avery, John Marin and his wife, Theresa Bernstein. Known for his urban scenes and landscapes (he had a summer home in Gloucester, Massachusetts), he also painted and etched portraits of several Supreme Court justices including Holmes, Cardozo, Black, Stone, Roberts, Frankfurter, Douglas and Hughes. See illustration below.

Murder by Poisoning

24. Browne, G. Lathom, and C.G. Stewart. Reports of Trials for Murder by Poisoning; by Prussic Acid, Strychnia, Antimony, Arsenic, and Aconitia. Including the Trials of Tawell, W. Palmer, Dove, Madeline Smith, Dr. Pritchard, Smethurst, and Dr. Lamson, With Chemical Introduction and Notes on the Poisons Used. London: Steven and Sons, 1883. xvi, 604 pp. Octavo (6" x 8-1/2"). Original cloth, rubbing to extremities with some fraying to spine ends, recased, hinges repaired. Front free endpaper lacking, internally clean. An appealing copy of a scarce title uncommon in the trade.  $250.
* First edition. Browne was a barrister, Stewart a chemist. This book contains accounts of the most famous cases of poisoning in nineteenth century Great Britain. Hoping this book will “prove useful to the medical, as well as the legal profession,” the authors describe the nature, operations and methods of detecting the poisons used in great detail and provide extensive background information on forensic medicine. Not in Sweet & Maxwell.

25. Bryan, William Jennings [1860-1925]. The Great Commoner’s Last Speech: Prepared for Delivery in Closing Argument for the State in the Evolution case at Dayton, Tennessee, July 21, 1925. Louisville, KY: Pentacostal Publishing Company, [c. 1925]. 48 pp. Softbound, some shelfwear. Toning to text, occasional light foxing, wear to corner of final leaf, internally clean. A nice copy of a scarce item.  $75.
* The stirring speech that ended the prosecution’s closing argument at the Scopes “Monkey” Trial. Bryan died five days later on July 26, 1925. OCLC locates 28 copies.

By the Author of an Important JP Manual

26. Burn, Richard [1709-1785]. The History of the Poor Laws: With Observations. London: Printed by H. Woodfall and W. Strahan for A. Millar, 1764. [iv], 295, [1] pp. Octavo (5" x 8"). Contemporary calf, blind fillets to boards, raised bands and hand-lettered title to spine. A few tiny scuffs and stains to boards, some rubbing to extremities, front board beginning to separate from spine but still secure, rear joint just starting at head, small chip to head of spine. Early armorial bookplate to front pastedown, early annotations to front endleaves. Toning, offsetting to margins of endleaves, light foxing in a few places. A pleasant copy.   $600.
* Only edition. The author of the standard English Justice of the peace manual of the eighteenth century, Burn was also the author of a law dictionary and important treatises on ecclesiastical and poor law. “The [History of Poor Laws] is a history, an account of the various proposals made at different periods for the reform of the poor law, and the author’s own proposals for the reform both of the poor law and of some other branches of the jurisdiction of the justices of the peace. like Burn’s other works, it is a clear and well arranged account of the subjects with which it deals; but it more valuable as a criticism, by an exceptionally competent critic, of the defects of the law in his own day, than as a history.”: Holdsworth, A History of English Law XII:338-39. Sweet & Maxwell 1:386 (2).

An Important Swiss Humanist Jurist

28. Cantiuncula (Chansonette), Claudius [c.1490-1549?]. Topica Legalia Quibus in Eandem Rationem Conscriptas Adiecimus. J Apelli et P. Gammari. Item Eiusdem P. Grammari de Prestantia et Cercitudine Legalis Scientiae Lucubrationem. Cum Rerum & Verborum in Hisce Omnibus Memorabilium Indice Locupletissimo. Basel: Apud Hieronymum Curionem Mense Martio, 1545. [xx], 250, [2] pp. Folio (7-1/2" x 11-1/2"). Recent period-style calf, blind fillets and central arabesques to boards, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Light fading to spine and upper portions of boards, some minor scratches and abrasions. Attractive woodcut initials, handsome printer device to verso of final leaf. Light soiling to title page, faint dampstaining to bottom edge of text block. Early owner signature to foot of title page, interior otherwise clean.  $2,750.
* Second edition. Cantiuncula was a professor of civil law at the University of Basel and a notable humanist jurist who corresponded with Ulrich Zasius and Erasmus of Rotterdam. Influenced by Alciato and Bude, he was among the first to introduce humanist learning to legal education. Topica Legalia is a collection of essays and brief studies on Roman law that was first published in 1520. Two other editions followed in 1545 and 1560. It is an excellent introduction to Cantiuncula’s work. KVK locates 12 copies of this edition, 20 copies of all editions. 3 copies located in North America at Harvard Law School, the Library of Congress and the Canadian National Library. All are copies of the 1520 edition; no copies of the 1545 or 1560 editions in North America. Not in Adams. British Museum Catalogue (Compact Edition) 4:1163. See illustration below.

Have You Any Last Words?

29. [Capital Punishment]. The Dying Speeches and Behaviour of the Several State Prisoners that Have Been Executed the Last 300 Years. With Their Several Characters from the Best Historians, as Cambden, Spotswood, Clarendon, Sprat, Burnet, &c. and a Table Shewing How the Respective Sentences were Executed, And Which of Them Were Mitigated, or Pardon’d. Being a Proper Supplement to the State-Tryals. London: J. Brotherton and W. Meadows, 1720. [xx], 495, [1] pp. Does not include the one-leaf plate called for in some references. Octavo (5" x 7-1/2"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, hinges mended. Signature and annotations attributed to eighteenth-century poet George Dyer to front pastedown and free endpaper. Offsetting to endleaves, light foxing to a few leaves, interior otherwise fresh.  $300.
* First edition. Account of the final hours and texts of the “dying speeches” delivered from the scaffold of about a hundred prisoners who were executed for crimes in Great Britain, principally for heresy and treason. Sir Thomas More, Mary Queen of Scots, King Edward, King Charles I and Sir Walter Raleigh are among the people including in this book. It is unclear whether this book should have a plate. The 37 print copies listed on OCLC do not have one, but the copy held by Harvard Law School and the electronic copy issued by Gale does. Goldsmith’s does not call for a plate. It is likely that most copies were bound without one. The following references do not list a plate: Catalogue of the Goldsmiths’ Library of Economic Literature 5916, Radzinowicz, A History of the English Criminal Law 178-181, English Short-Title Catalog 11590.

Signed By Benjamin Cardozo

30. Cardozo, Benjamin N. [1870-1938]. What Medicine Can Do For Law. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1930. Original three-quarter cloth over paper boards, negligible shelfwear, internally pristine. “Benjamin N. Cardozo” in bold hand to front free endpaper.  $800.
* First edition, with Cardozo’s full signature on preliminary leaf. “This noteworthy address, with its appreciation of the scientific problems involved, its courage and social vision, will go down in history as one of the most valuable contributions in our time to medico-legal jurisprudence.”: Shientag, Moulders of Legal Thought 39.

First American Edition of Chitty on Contracts

31. Chitty, Joseph [d. 1838]. A Practical Treatise on the Law of Contracts, Not Under Seal; And Upon the Usual Defences to Actions Thereon. With Corrections and Additional References by a Member of the Massachusetts Bar. Boston: Published by Wells and Lilly, 1827. xvi, 345, [40] pp. Star-paged. Octavo (5-3/4" x 9-1/2"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Small clean tear to title page. Occasional light foxing, internally clean. A nice copy in a handsome binding.  $750.
* First American edition, based on the first London edition (1826), to which it is star-paged. The standard treatise of its day, it went through several editions in Great Britain and the United States. “This is a very comprehensive collection of cases upon the law of contracts.... As a book of reference it is pre-eminently better than any existing treatise on the law of contracts.... Mr. Chitty’s laborious and generally accurate analysis of cases, and the arrangement of his subject, have conferred upon his book a degree of authority and value of no ordinary kind. It is a deservedly popular work with the profession.:” Marvin 194 (citing a later edition). OCLC locates 12 copies of this edition. Cohen 3625.

Background Essay for Cobb’s Law of Negro Slavery

32. Cobb, Thomas R.R. An Historical Sketch of Slavery, From the Earliest Periods. Philadelphia: T. & J.W. Johnson & Co., 1858. [iv], xxiii-cccii pp. Octavo (6" x 9-1/4"). Original cloth, blind frames and corner fleurons to boards, gilt titles to spine. Rubbing to extremities with moderate wear, section of backstrip lacking along upper half of front joint. Residue from bookplates (or tipped in leaves) to pastedowns, later owner stamp to front endleaf, shelf label to foot of spine. Early markings and underlining in light pencil in a few places, interior otherwise clean. A solid copy.  $850.
* Only edition. Complete in itself, this book was also published as the preface and the two chapters of Cobb’s Inquiry Into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America (1858). The same plates were used for both publications; this is why the book is numbered with Roman numerals. This important book was the most comprehensive antebellum statement on the law of slavery and the only treatise on the subject by a southerner. (Cobb was a Georgian.) Sabin, A Dictionary of Books Relating to America 13861.

33. Coffee Jr., John C. Gatekeepers: The Professions and Corporate Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. 389 pp. Cloth with gilt stamped spine. Dust jacket. New.   $35.
* Much of the debate and investigation of corporate collapse and failure has focused on boards and directors. Comparatively attention has been given to the role of those who inform and advise them: the gate-keeping professions who play a vital and influential role in modern business. In this book, John Coffee, world-renowned Professor of Corporate Law explains how the professions have evolved, performed and changed their behavior over the last century. Coffee argues that all boards of directors are prisoners of their gatekeepers and only if the board’s agents properly advise and warn it, can the board function efficiently. This well-informed, accessible and challenged account will be vital reading to all who wish to understand the contemporary business landscape and “why the dogs didn’t bark” for Enron and WorldCom.

The Received Edition of Coke’s Reports

35. Coke, Sir Edward [1552-1643]. Thomas, John Henry, and John Farquhar Fraser, Editors. The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Knt. In Thirteen Parts. A New Edition, with Additional Notes and References, and with Abstracts of the Principal Points: The First Three Parts and the Fourth to Fol. 38a. by John Henry Thomas, Esq. The Rest of the Fourth and the Remaining Nine Parts by John Farquhar Fraser, Esq. London: Joseph Butterworth and Son, 1826. Six volumes. Octavo (6" x 9-1/2"). Contemporary calf, raised bands and red and black lettering pieces to spines. Bookseller ticket and early bookplate to each front pastedown. Some rubbing to spines and extremities with light wear, tiny scuff to spine of Volume VI, boards separated from spines but still quite secure. Offsetting to margins of endleaves, interiors otherwise fresh.  $2,400.
* Final edition. According to Wallace, this is the “best [edition], which has superseded all older ones...” It is also noteworthy because it contains Coke’s complete prefaces. Written between 1572 and 1616 by the greatest legal practitioner of the day, The Reports are not reports in the conventional sense but highly detailed anthologies of precedents organized according to the cases they consider. In each instance Coke assembled a large body of cases, outlined their arguments, and explained the reasons for the judgment, using it as a basis for a statement of general principles. They are, in effect, a series of treatises on the points of law adjudged, and not merely notes for citation. Taken together, The Reports form the most extensive and detailed treatment of Common Law pleading that had yet appeared. A work of immense authority, it was often cited as The Reports, there being no need to mention the author’s name. His accounts, especially of pleadings, were applauded for both their clarity and usefulness as stylistic models for students. And his selection of cases, cited frequently in subsequent years, has served as the starting point for numerous decisions. Wallace, The Reporters (1882) 165-196. Sweet & Maxwell 1:296. See illustration below.

“No Practitioner in the United States Courts Can Well Do Without [This Book]”

36. Conkling, Alfred [1789-1874]. A Treatise on the Organization and Jurisdiction of the Supreme, Circuit and District Courts of the United States: the Practice of These Several Courts in Civil and Criminal Cases; of the Supreme and Circuit Courts on Writ of Error and Certificate of Division of Opinion; And of the District Courts in Cases of Municipal Seizure; Including a Summary Exposition of the Law Relative to the Priority of the United States; Imprisoned Debtors; The Remission of Penalties and Forfeitures; and Naturalization. To Which is Added an Appendix, Containing the Rules of the Supreme Court of the United States; The Rules Prescribed by the Supreme Court to Regulate the Practice of the Circuit Courts in Suits of Equity; And the Rules of the Circuit and District Courts for the Northern District of New York; And Practical Forms. Revised, Corrected and Much Enlarged. New York: Gould, Banks & Co., 1842. xvi, 634 pp. Octavo (6 x 9-1/2"). Contemporary sheep, blind fillets to boards, lettering pieces and blind fillets to spine. Rubbing with light wear to extremities, a few minor scuffs and stains, corners bumped. Light foxing to endleaves and some text leaves, dampstaining to lower margin of last few leaves. Early bookseller ticket and owner signatures to front pastedown, interior otherwise clean. A sound copy.  $300.
* Second edition. “This is a faithful, comprehensive, and well-written work, which no practitioner in the United States courts can well do without.” Hoffmann, Legal Studies cited in Marvin 220. The first edition was published in 1831; the final (fifth) edition in 1870. Cohen 1069.

Handsomely Bound Complete

First-Edition Set of Cranch’s Reports

38. Cranch, William [1769-1855], Reporter. Reports of Cases Argued and Adjudged in the Supreme Court of the United States. Volume 1, Washington City: Published for John Conrad & Co., 1804; Volumes 2-3, New York: Printed by and For I. Riley & Co., 1806; Volume 4, Flatbush, NY: Printed and Published by I. Riley, 1809; Volumes 5-6, New York: Printed and Published by Isaac Riley, 1812; Volumes 7-9, Washington City: Printed by Daniel Rapine, 1816-1817. Nine volumes in all. Octavo (5" x 8"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, gilt fillets and lettering pieces to spines, endpapers renewed. A few minor tears and chips, some mended with archival tape, chipping to fore-edges of preliminaries and first 20 leaves of Volume 8 with minor loss. Early owner signatures (of A.J. Cline, J. Tod and Joseph C. Hornblower) to some title pages, that of Theodore Sedgwick to title page of Volume IV. Owner stamp of James B. Robins to p. 1 of Volume 3, stamp of Charles Hess to title page of Volume 7. Light foxing and browning in some cases, interiors otherwise fresh. A handsome set.  $3,000.
* First editions. With side-notes and indexes. Cranch’s career as the Supreme Court’s reporter, 1801 to 1815, coincided with the first fourteen years of Marshall’s tenure as Chief Justice. His Reports contain Marshall’s early opinions on several fundamental constitutional issues, which were articulated in such landmark decisions as Marbury v. Madison (1803) and Fletcher v. Peck (1810). “Because of the formative role of the Marshall Court in American constitutional history, the Supreme Court decisions reported by Cranch have been frequently cited and intensely studied, and that interest will undoubtedly continue” (Cohen and O’Connor). Cranch’s volumes are also esteemed for the quality of their reporting. He followed the court’s proceedings personally, wrote his own notes in shorthand and examined all relevant original documents. These practices enabled him to report arguments with greater accuracy than his predecessor, Alexander Dallas. Theodore Sedgwick [1746-1813], a prominent Federalist, member of the Continental Congress and delegate to the convention that ratified the US Constitution, was a Representative and Senator from Massachusetts and the fifth Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. Cohen and O’Connor, A Guide to the Early Reports of the Supreme Court of the United States 31-32, 127-134. See illustration below.

“Swindlers, Quacks, Humbugs and Rascals Exposed”

39. [Crime and Criminals]. Tricks & Traps of America; Or, Swindlers, Quacks, Humbugs and Rascals Exposed. An Exposition of All the Various Cheats, Swindles, Impositions, Humbugs Etc., Of the Present Day. Also Contains Several Legitimate Schemes That Can be Used to Good Profit by Any Person. Price, 25 Cents. Printed for the Trade. [Corfu, NY: C.E. Curtiss, c.1889]. 16 pp. Stapled pamphlet in pictorial wrappers. Light shelfwear and soiling, toning to text, internally clean. An unusually well-preserved copy of a rare title.  $500.
* Only edition. The C.E. Curtiss Company provided services to the mail order catalogue industry. (The inside front cover has an advertisement for another Curtiss title: Key to Success in the Mail Order Business.) OCLC locates 2 copies, one at the Library of Congress, another at the University of Minnesota. No copies located in law school libraries.

Important Work by Alexander James Dallas

40. Dallas, Alexander James. [1759-1817]. The Opinion of Judge Cooper, on the Effect of a Sentence of a Foreign Court of Admiralty. Philadelphia: P. Byrne, 1810. xiv, [9-78], [5]. Later cloth, light shelfwear. Some dampstaining to margins, interior otherwise clean. A very good copy.  $175.
*First edition. Important legal work by Dallas, Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, and editor of the Pennsylvania laws, as well as other legal treatises. “This opinion is one of the ablest upon the question it involves.” Marvin 250. Judge Brackinridge says of it: “I would recommend every American student to read this opinion of Judge Cooper’s...It is a model which deserves to be admired.” Cited in Marvin 250. Sabin 18312.

First Editions of

the First U.S. Supreme Court Reports

41. Dallas, Alexander James, Reporter. Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Courts of Pennsylvania, Before and Since the Revolution. Philadelphia: Printed, for the Reporter, by T. Bradford, 1790.

Reports of Cases Ruled and Adjudged in the Several Courts of the United States, And of Pennsylvania, Held at the Seat of the Federal Government. Volume II. Philadelphia: Printed for the Reporter, At the Aurora Office, 1798; Volume III. Philadelphia: Printed for the Reporter, 1799; Volume IV. Philadelphia: Printed for P. Byrne, By Fry and Kammerer, 1807. Four volumes in all. Octavo (5" x 8"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, endpapers renewed. Faint dampstaining, light foxing and browning in some places, interiors otherwise fresh. A handsome set.  $2,000.
* First editions. With side-notes and indexes. Later republished as Volumes 1-4 of United States Reports, Dallas’s Reports were the first to record cases heard before the U.S. Supreme Court, which sat in Philadelphia from 1791 to 1801. They are also one of the first three sets of reports produced in the United States. (The others are Ephraim Kirby’s Connecticut Reports and Francis Hopkinson’s Judgements in the Admiralty of Pennsylvania.) The quality of Dallas’s reporting is a matter of debate, but his significance is beyond dispute. Cohen and O’Conner offer a fair assessment: “Although his reports were less satisfying and less reliable than those of the English reporters of the period, Dallas provided a record which otherwise would not have been available. He thereby began a reporting tradition for the Supreme Court which was to help shape American legal history” (22). Cohen and O’Conner 17-22, 117-124. See illustration below.

Richard Henry Dana on the 1861

Prize Cases and Their Political Significance

42. Dana, Richard Henry [1815-1882]. Enemy’s Territory and Enemy Aliens: What the Supreme Court Decided in the Prize Cases. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1864. 11 pp. Octavo (5-1/2' x 8-1/2"). Stab-stitched pamphlet in printed wrappers. Light shelfwear, covers detached from text (thread broken), discoloration to front cover, some toning to text. A solid copy of a scarce item.  $150.
* Only edition. In the three months before Congress declared war on the seceded states, Lincoln authorized a blockade of their ports. During that period several merchant ships ran the blockade and were taken as prizes by the U.S. Navy. The legality of the seizures was challenged in court; on appeal, the Supreme Court ruled that the president had acted legally to resist insurrection under the authority granted by presidential emergency powers. In this pamphlet Dana refutes the argument put forth in a letter to the London Law Magazine (November 1863) by William Beach Lawrence that says the Supreme Court’s ruling was a de facto recognition of the Confederacy as a sovereign nation at war with the United States. OCLC locates 28 copies.

Signed First Edition of Darrow’s Farmington

43. Darrow, Clarence [1857-1938]. Farmington. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1904. vi, 277 pp. Cloth, arts-and-crafts style multi-color vignette and gilt title to front board, gilt title and black-stamped fillets to spine, top edge gilt, deckle fore and bottom edges. Some rubbing to extremities with some wear to spine ends and corners, front hinge just starting. Title page with large engraved vignette printed in red and black. Toning to text. “Mrs Goodlawd/ Clarence Darrow’ in bold hand to front free endpaper, interior otherwise clean.  $1,500.
* First edition. Farmington is a fictionalized account of the author’s youth in Ohio. Though it went through seven editions, it was never a critical or commercial success. This pained Darrow because he thought it was his finest book. Hunsberger, Clarence Darrow: A Bibliography 49. See illustration below.

44. Darrow, Clarence. Talley, Alfred F. Debate. Resolved: That Capital Punishment is a Wise Public Policy. Clarence Darrow, Negative. Judge Alfred J. Talley, Affirmative. Introduction by Louis Marshall. Foreword by Warden Lewis E. Lawes. New York: The League for Public Discussion, 1924. 71, [1] pp. 2 Plates. Original printed wrappers with cloth-reinforced perfect-bound spine, dampstaining to upper left corner of text, otherwise clean.  $85.
* This debate took place before an audience of 3,000 at the Metropolitan Opera House on October 26, 1924. Lawes was the Warden of Sing Sing Prison. The author of several popular books and articles, he was a reformer who opposed capital punishment. This copy has more pages than the one listed in Hunsberger (154).

Handsome Inscribed Portrait

Photograph of William O. Douglas

45. [Douglas, William O. (1898-1980)]. Bachrach, Fabian, Photographer. [Portrait Photograph of Douglas in Judicial Attire, Glazed and Framed]. Washington, DC, 1951. Matted and glazed 8" x 10" black-and-white photograph in 11" x 14" frame, tiny photographer stamp to lower right corner. Autograph Inscription by Douglas below image. Toning to mat, a few chips and minor wear to frame.  $850.
* The inscription reads: For Warren D. Irish with warm/ personal regards and best wishes/ Wm. O Douglas. Fabian Bachrach and his brother directed the illustrious Bachrach studios after World War II. The Bachrach company archives indicate that the photo of Douglas was taken in 1951. See illustration below.

 Civil-War Era Issue of the “Great Store House of American Constitutional History”