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Max Lowenthal |
| Lowenthal [1888-1971] was an important advisor to several senators and President Truman. He played a key role in Truman’s decision to recognize Israel. |
173. Barnard, Harry.
Eagle Forgotten: The Life of John Peter Altgeld. New York:
Duell, Sloan and Pearce, [1938]. [xx], 15-484 pp. Cloth very good in
worn dust jacket. Signature of Max Lowenthal to front free
endpaper. $10.
*
Altgeld [1847-1902] was a progressive governor of Illinois who is
best known for his politically brave clemency toward the surviving
Haymarket rioters.  
174. Carswell, Donald, Editor.
Trial of Guy Fawkes and Others (The Gunpowder Plot). London:
William Hodge & Company, [1934]. vi, 191, 35 pp. Plates. Includes
25-page publisher catalogue. Cloth very good in worn dust jacket.
Dampspotting to edges and endleaves, text otherwise fresh. $25.
*
The Gunpowder Plot of 1605 was a failed attempt by a group of
Catholics to kill King James I of England, his family, and most of
the Protestant aristocracy by blowing up the Houses of Parliament
during the State Opening.
The Wicked Designs of a “Popish Prince”
175. [Clarkson, David (1622-1686)].
The Case of Protestants in England Under a Popish Prince, If Any
Shall Happen to Wear the Imperial Crown. London: Printed for
Richard Janeway, 1681. 34 pp. Disbound pamphlet, toned, occasional
light dampspotting. Upper corner lacking from title page with minor
loss, chips to margins of a few leaves. A sound copy. $250.
*
Only edition. This pamphlet, which Clarkson was wise to publish
anonymously, is a hysterical attack on King Charles II that alleges
that he is a tool of the Pope. Clarkson was a minister and a fellow
of Clare Hall, Cambridge, where his pupils included the future
Archbishop of Canterbury. OCLC locates 28 copies. Wing,
Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland,
Ireland, Wales and British America C4569.
176. Irving, H.B.
The Life of Judge Jeffreys. London: William Heinemann, 1898.
380 pp. Portrait frontispiece. Plates. Octavo (5-1/2" x 8-3/4").
Original cloth, gilt titles to spine, deckle fore and bottom edges.
Light shelfwear, spine ends and corners bumped, binding slightly
cocked, front hinge starting, internally clean. $40.
*
Jeffreys [1644 or 5-1689] was an English judge under Charles II and
James II who was notorious for his cruelty on the bench. He was
responsible for the Bloody Assizes and presided over the trial of
Algernon Sydney and many of the trials connected with the Popish
Plot.
First English Edition of Lieber’s Civil Liberty
177. Lieber, Francis [1798-1872].
On Civil Liberty and Self-Government. London: Richard
Bentley, 1853. xv, 552 pp. Octavo (5-1/2" x 8-1/2"). Original cloth,
ornate blind-stamped frames to boards, blind-stamped ornaments and
gilt titles to spine. Light shelfwear, corners and spine ends
bumped, some fading to spine and top portions of boards. Early owner
signature to front free endpaper. Internally fresh, most signatures
unopened. An appealing copy. $125.
*
First English edition. “Lieber presented the first systematic works
on political science that appeared in America.... [H]e retains
credit as a notable pioneer with wide influence in more than one
generation” (DAB). First published in 1853 and widely read
and used as a textbook, this is the best known of his works. OCLC
locates 23 copies of this edition. Dictionary of American
Biography VI:236-238. British Museum Catalogue (Compact
Edition) 15:313.
First American
Edition of Maine’s Ancient Law,
With
an Extensive Introduction by Theodore W. Dwight
178. Maine, Henry Sumner [1822-1888].
Ancient Law: Its Connection With the Early History of Society,
And Its Relation to Modern Ideas. With an Introduction by
Theodore W. Dwight. New York: Charles Scribner & co., 1867. lxix,
400, [4] pp. Includes four-page publisher catalogue. Octavo (5" x
7-3/4"). Original cloth, blind frames with corner fleurons to
boards, gilt titles to spine. Binding slightly cocked, some chipping
to spine ends, corners bumped and lightly worn, minor inkstain to
foot of rear board. Tiny inkstains to bottom margins of a few
leaves, corners lacking from two leaves. Early owner signature to
head of title page (not Lowenthal’s) , interior otherwise clean.
$250.
*
First American edition, from the second London Edition (1866). With
an extensive introduction by Dwight [1822-1892], the distinguished
dean of Columbia University’s Law School. “Maine indicates the place
in the development of a legal system of such agencies as legal
fictions and equity. He explains the history of the concept of a law
of nature; and in his account of the contrast between primitive and
modern society—between the place which the law of persons occupies
in primitive and modern law—he comes to the famous conclusion that
the government of progressive societies has been from status to
contract”: Holdsworth, History of English Law XV: 363-4. OCLC
locates 4 copies of this edition. See illustration below.
179. [Massachusetts].
The Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, From February 28,
1807, to February 29, 1812. Excluding the Political Years, 1807,
1808, 1809, 1810 and 1811. Vol. I. New Series. Beginning Where the
Edition Ends, Which Was Printed by Order of the Legislature in
1807.—The Laws of Each Political Year, At Its Termination, To be
Printed in a Corresponding Manner, With Proper Index, &c. So As to
Bind Up With this Volume. Boston: Printed by Greenough and
Stebbins, 1812. 16, 323 pp. Complete as issued. Octavo (5-1/4" x
8-1/2"). Contemporary sheep, moderate wear to board edges, boards
slightly bowed, joints cracked, spine rubbed with loss of lettering
piece, hinges starting. Small early owner signature to head of title
page. Foxing and offsetting to endleaves, interior otherwise fresh.
$50.
*
Babbitt, Hand-List of Legislative Sessions and Session Laws
233.
180. Omond, George W.T.
The Lord Advocates of Scotland From the Close of the Fifteenth
Century to the Passing of the Reform Bill. Edinburgh: David
Douglas, 1883. Two volumes. Octavo (5-1/2" x 8-1/2"). Original
cloth, blind frames to boards, gilt titles to spines. Moderate
shelfwear, scuff to spine of Volume II, hinges just starting,
internally clean. $50.
*
“It has been my aim...to trace the history of an office, the holders
of which have enjoyed peculiar opportunities of influencing the
course of politics, and the development of the law...during a period
of above four hundred years, and to describe the various
arrangements which, since the Union, have been made for the
management of Scottish affairs.”: Preface iii.
181. Rosenbach Company.
American Laws, Acts, Legislative Journals, Legal Compilations,
Statutes, and Trials. Philadelphia: The Rosenbach Company, 1938.
53, [3] pp. Octavo (6" x 9"). Softbound, some soiling and chipping
to spine ends and edges of covers. Some calculations in pencil to
rear cover, internally clean. $20.
*
Most of the entries have annotations; some are quite lengthy.
182. Tanner, J.R.
Constitutional Documents of the Reign of James I A.D. 1603-1625:
With an Historical Commentary. Cambridge: At The University
Press, 1952. xv, 389 pp. Cloth very good in moderately worn dust
jacket. Some dampspotting to edges and endleaves, interior otherwise
fresh. $15.
Lord Admiral Nelson
Testified as a Character Witness
183. [Trial]. Despard, Edward Marcus [1751-1803], Primary Defendant.
Gurney, Joseph, and William Brodie Gurney, Reporters.
The Trial of Edward Marcus Despard, Esquire. For High Treason, At
the Session House, Newington, Surry [sic], On Monday the
Seventh of February, 1803. London: Sold by M. Gurney, 1803. 271,
[5] pp. Includes five-page publisher catalogue. Octavo (5-1/2' x
8-3/4"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, gilt fillets
and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed, untrimmed edges.
Light soiling and a few tiny stains to title page, occasional
toning, light foxing to a few leaves. An attractively-bound copy of
an uncommon title. $500.
*
Only edition. With index. After a brilliant military career in the
West Indies, where his achievements impressed Lieutenant, later Lord
Admiral, Nelson, Colonel Despard was recalled from his command and
dismissed on frivolous charges. He tried to clear his name and seek
compensation, but his complaints led to imprisonment without a trial
for two years. Financially ruined and bitter, he took part in a plot
to seize the Tower of London and Bank of England and assassinate
King George III. After the plot was foiled Despard and six others
were convicted of treason. A highlight during the trial was Lord
Admiral Nelson’s testimony as a character witness on Despard’s
behalf. (This testimony was given at the time when Nelson’s fame was
at its zenith; he would be killed three months later during his
greatest victory, the Battle of Trafalger.) Despard and his
co-conspirators share the dubious distinction of being the last men
in Great Britain sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered, the
form of execution given to convicted traitors since 1283. However,
King George commuted their sentences to death by hanging followed by
decapitation of the corpse. OCLC locates 32 copies. Catalogue of
the Library of the Harvard Law School (1909) II:1061.
The Libel Trial of Cardinal Newman
184. [Trial].
Newman, John Henry, Defendant.
Achilli v. Newman: A Full and Authentic Report of the Above
Prosecution for Libel, Tried Before Lord Campbell and a Special
Jury, In the Court of Queen’s Bench, Westminster, June, 1852. With
Introductory Remarks by the Editor of “The Confessional Unmasked.”
London: W. Strange, 1852. 65, [3] pp. Includes one-page
advertisement for The Confessional Unmasked. Octavo (5" x
8"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet, light soiling to title page
and verso of final leaf, some toning to margins of text, internally
clean. A solid copy of a rare title. $100.
*
In 1852 Newman delivered a lectures that criticized the
anti-Catholic writings of Dr. Giacinto Achilli, an ex-Dominican
friar. Newman also said Achilli was not trustworthy because he was a
seducer and adulterer. This led Achilli to sue Newman for libel.
Tainted by a recent wave of anti-Catholic sentiment, the criminal
proceedings were biased against Newman. Found guilty, he was
sentenced to pay a fine of £100. He also owed about £14,000. for his
defense, a sum that was quickly raised by public subscription. This
pamphlet is prefaced with comments from the anonymous editor of the
vicious anti-Catholic Confessional Unmasked. OCLC locates 5
copies. McCoy, Freedom of the Press: An Annotated Bibliography
(Supplement) 1N100. British Museum Catalogue (Compact
Edition) 1:91. See illustration below.
Trial of The
Most Important Irish Statesman of
the First Half
of the Nineteenth Century
185. [Trial].
O’Connell, Daniel [1835-1847], Primary Defendant. Armstrong, John
Simpson, and Edward Srirley Trevor, Reporters.
A Report of the Proceedings on an Indictment for a Conspiracy in
the Case of the Queen v. Daniel O’Connell, John O’Connell, Thomas
Steele, Charles Gavan Duffy, Rev. Thomas Tierney, Rev. Peter James
Tyrrell, Richard Barrett, John Gray, And Thomas Matthew Ray, in
Michaelmas Term, 1843, and Hilary Term, 1844. Dublin: Hodges and
Smith, 1844. viii, 24, 2*-120*,
25-891 pp. According to a publisher’s note, the pagination reflects
the addition of material inserted after other portions of the text
were printed. Octavo (5-1/2" x 8-3/4"). Recent period-style quarter
calf over cloth, gilt fillets and lettering piece to spine,
endpapers renewed. Light toning to text, several unopened
signatures. A handsome copy of an uncommon title. $650.
* Only edition.
With notes by the reporters. Ireland’s most eminent politician of
the first half of the nineteenth century, O’Connell is one of the
greatest figures in modern Irish history. He is known as “The
Liberator” or “The Emancipator” for his leading role in Catholic
emancipation, which enabled Catholics to participate in public and
political life, and his efforts to repeal the 1801 Act of Union
between Great Britain and Ireland. O’Connell argued for the
re-creation of an independent Kingdom of Ireland with Queen Victoria
as the Queen of Ireland. He promoted this cause through a series of
rallies, all of which attracted nearly 100,000 listeners. These
rallies frightened the British Government, and this led to a
conspiracy indictment and a three-month jail term. His time in
prison and the legal ban on large rallies, which he refused to defy,
broke his political momentum and stalled his campaign for repeal.
This title was reissued later this year as part of the Irish State
Trials series. Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law School
(1909) II:1154.
Cobbett’s First
Attempt to Promote Reform
186. [Trial].
Powell, Richard, Captain, Primary Defendant.
[Cobbett, William (1763-1835)]. Proceedings of a General
Court Martial Held at the Horse-Guards, On the 24th and 27th of
March, 1792, For the Trial of Capt. Richard Powell, Lieut.
Christopher Seton, and Lieut. John Hall, Of the 54th Regiment of
Foot; On Several Charges Preferred Against Them Respectively by
William Cobbett, Late Serjeant-Major of the Said Regiment; Together
With Several Curious Letters Which Passed Between the Said William
Cobbett and Sir Charles Gould, Judge-Advocate General; And Various
Other Documents Connected Therewith, In the Order of Their Dates.
London: Printed and Published by J. Gold, 1809. 32 pp. Octavo
(5-1/4" x 8-1/4"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet, some edgewear,
light browning to title page and verso of final leaf, interior
lightly toned but clean. Scarce. $125.
*
Only edition, one of two accounts published in 1809. Before he
launched his career as a reformer though his Weekly Political
Register and his pamphlets Cobbett was a soldier. It was during
this time that he took his first steps toward his future vocation.
While stationed in Canada from 1784 to 1791 he found that several
officers were stealing provisions. Moreover, there behavior
established a system of corruption that influenced the other ranks.
Cobbett collected evidence against these officers. After he returned
to England and left the army in 1791 he presented his evidence to
the Secretary of War. A court-martial of his former officers was
convened, but no one appeared to prosecute the case. The charges
were dismissed and the defendants acquitted. Fearing reprisals, he
fled to France, then the United States. He returned to England in
1800. OCLC locates 24 copies. Catalogue of the Library of the
Harvard Law School (1909) II:1168. See illustration below.
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