Adams on the Constitutions of the United States

7. Adams, John. A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America. Philadelphia: Printed by Budd and Bartram, for William Corbett, 1797. Three volumes. Reprinted 2001 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New. $250.
* Reprint of the final authorial edition published in Philadelphia during Adams’ [1735-1826] presidency. His defense of the Constitution played an important role in the development of American political theory. He calls for a doctrine of the separation of powers, a system of checks and balances, and a legislature of two houses. The work’s timely publication and thesis influenced the delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787.

8. [Admiralty Law]. United States. District Court (South Carolina). Reports of Cases Adjudged in the District Court of South Carolina by the Hon. Thomas Bee, Judge of that Court To Which is Added an Appendix, Containing Decisions in the Admiralty Court of Pennsylvania. By the Late Francis Hopkinson and Cases Determined in Other Districts of the United States. Philadelphia: William P. Farrand and Co., 1810. Reprint. Buffalo: W.S. Hein, 2006. vii, 495 pp. Cloth. New. $85.
* Bee presents a fascinating glimpse into decisions affecting commerce on the seas in the early 1800s. Also known as Bee’s Admiralty Reports, this work includes a brief synopsis and his decisions on 92 admiralty cases, in an alphabetical listing, along with a general subject index.

10. Alfred, King of Wessex. The Legal Code of Aelfred the Great. Edited With an Introduction by Milton Haight Turk. Boston: Published by Ginn and Company, 1893. viii, 147 pp. Reprinted 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New. $95.
* A legendary figure in medieval history, Aelfred [871-899] expelled the Vikings from England and founded the first significant centralized kingdom in present-day England and Wales. A learned monarch, he was well-versed in Christian theology and Classical thought. His legal code attempted to teach his subjects about their duty, the king’s authority and the collective destiny of Wessex. Indeed, the preface contains a history of law beginning with the Ten Commandments, which suggests that he believed his subjects were a new people of God. Not a code or handbook in the conventional sense, it aimed to promote the king as a lawgiver on Roman and biblical models. This edition contains the complete text of the code with full scholarly apparatus and an extensive introduction that discusses manuscripts of the code, philological issues and the code’s legal and literary qualities.

“The Importance of the Judicial Character”

11. Alley, Jerome [1760-1827]. The Judge; Or, An Estimate of the Importance of the Judicial Character, Occasioned by the Death of the Late Lord Clare, Lord Chancellor of Ireland. A Poem in Three Cantos. London: Printed by J. Swan, 1803. x, 129 pp. Lithographed frontispiece. Octavo (3-3/4" x 6-1/4"). Recent period-style three-quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt title, ornaments and fillets to spine, marbled endpapers. Negligible shelfwear, small faint stain to front board. Later owner stamp to bottom edges of text block and front endleaf. Light foxing in a few places, interior otherwise clean. An attractive copy of a scarce work. $450.
* Only edition. This poem in honor of John Fitzgibbon, First Earl of Clare [1749-1802] is a didactic work about the qualities of an exemplary judge. Appointed Lord Chancellor in 1789, Clare was a controversial figure in Irish history. A key figure in the Protestant ascendancy and a staunch opponent of Catholic emancipation, he was an early supporter of union with England (which occurred just before his death in 1801). OCLC locates 17 copies. British Museum Catalogue (Compact Edition) [BMC] 1:457. See illustration below.

An Important Argument for Freedom of

the Press Inspired by the Wilkes Libel Case

12. [Almon, John (1735-1773), Attributed]. A Letter Concerning Libels, Warrants, The Seisure of Papers, And Sureties for the Peace of Behaviour; With a View of Some Late Proceedings, And the Defence of Them by the Majority. With the Postscript and an Appendix. London: Printed for J. Almon, 1766. 132 pp. Octavo (5" x 8"). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound into recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece, endpapers renewed. Light foxing to margins in a few places, interior otherwise fresh. $450.
* Sixth edition of a work first published in 1764. Originally issued after John Wilkes fled to Europe after his condemnation by Parliament for seditious libel in 1764, this pamphlet contains one of the most famous defenses of freedom of the press. Notably for emphasizing the distinction between words and deeds, it anticipated Erskine’s unsuccessful defense of Thomas Paine, who was charged with seditious libel after the publication of his Rights of Man (1791). OCLC locates 18 copies of this edition, which is not listed in Sweet & Maxwell.

13. Amdur, Leon H. Trade-Mark Law and Practice. Lanham Act Edition. New York, NY: Clark Boardman Company, Ltd., 1948. xiii, 776 pp. Original cloth, light shelfwear, internally clean. $75.
* Contains 1959 cumulative supplement to Amdur’s Trade-Mark Law and Practice including new Trade-Mark Rules of practice effective January 1, 1959 by Irving Seidman.

Edwardian Legal Verse

15. Anson, Sir William Reynell [1843-1914]. [Raper, R.W., Editor]. Ballads en Termes de la Ley (Originally Written for the Use of the Trinity Lawyers) and Other Verses. Oxford: Printed for Private Circulation by Horace Hart, 1914. [i], 57 pp. Portrait frontispiece with overlay, ribbon marker. Three-quarter pebbled calf over cloth, gilt titles to front board and spine, top edge gilt. Light rubbing to extremities with minor wear, some wear to edges and corners. Early owner signature to front free endpaper, interior otherwise clean. $250.
* With a printed dedication leaf annotated and inscribed by Anson’s sisters. This book of legal poetry was published posthumously as a memento. Contents include “The Ballad of Negotiable Instruments” and “The Ballad of Subsequent Impossibility.” Reynell was the Vinerian Reader in Common Law and the Warden of All Souls College at Oxford.

Collected Cardozo Memorial Lectures, 1941-1970

16. Association of the Bar of the City of New York. The Benjamin N. Cardozo Memorial Lectures Delivered Before The Association of the Bar of the City of New York 1941-1970. 100th Anniversary Edition. New York: Matthew Bender, [1970]. Two volumes. Cloth in slipcase, light shelfwear, internally fine. $150.
* Contents include lectures by Lon L. Fuller, Felix Frankfurter, William O. Douglas, Arthur Goodhart, Earl Warren and other eminent jurists.

History of Serjeants at Law

18. Baker, J.H. The Order of Serjeants at Law: A Chronicle of Creations, with Related Texts and a Historical Introduction. London: Selden Society, 1984. xxvi, 610 pp. Cloth very good in lightly worn dust jacket. R.C. van Caenegem’s name in pencil to front free endpaper, his annotations in pencil to several leaves. (Favorable) review of this book and related items by Caenegem laid in. Later owner stamp to bottom edge of text block and a few leaves, interior otherwise clean. $150.
* Serjeants at Law were the elite of the English bar and occupied a position more exclusive than that of a Queen’s Counsel today. This book contains a list of all known members of the order, with their dates of creation, from the time of Edward I to the last Serjeant, Lord Lindley (1828-1921). The first part traces the history of the Serjeants and attempts to explain their origins, constitution and eventual disappearance. Sixteen plates illustrate their distinctive garb. An appendix gives short biographies of all the Serjeants listed in the book.

19. Balch, William Ralston. The People’s Dictionary and Every-Day Encyclopedia. Comprising All the Information Needed Upon Any Subject in Daily Use. A Hand-Book for Everybody for Each Day of the Year. Philadelphia: Thayer, Merriam & Co., [1883]. 704 pp. Octavo (4-1/2" x 7"). Original cloth, red-stamped titles to front board and spine, blind title to rear. Some rubbing with light wear to extremities, binding slightly cocked, rear joint and hinge just starting. Light browning to text, internally clean. $45.
* This book includes a digest of business law. The dictionary contains several legal terms. Vancil, Catalogue of Dictionaries, Word Books, and Philological Texts, 1440-1900 16.

“Denounced the Use of Torture and

Secret Judicial Proceedings”

20. Beccaria, [Cesare Bonesana, Marchese de (1738-94)]. An Essay on Crimes and Punishments, Translated from the Italian; With a Commentary Attributed to Mons. De Voltaire, Translated from the French. London: Printed for E. Newberry, 1785. [vi], iii-viii, 179, lxxix pp. Octavo (5-1/2" x 8"). Recent lightly worn period-style three-quarter polished calf over marbled boards, raised bands, lettering piece, endpapers renewed. Early owner signature in fine hand to head of title page, interior notably fresh. A very good copy. $450.
* Fourth edition. Carter and Muir accurately describe this treatise as “one of the most influential works in the whole history of criminology. Beccaria denounced the use of torture and secret judicial proceedings...these ideas have now become so commonplace that it is difficult to appreciate their revolutionary impact at the time.” First translated into English in 1767, Dei Delitti e Delle Pene (1764) was the first systematic study of the principles of crime and punishment. Infused with the spirit of the Enlightenment, its advocacy of crime prevention and the abolition of torture and capital punishment marked a significant advance in criminological thought, which had changed little since the Middle Ages. It had a profound influence on the development of criminal law in Europe and the United States. Walker 121. Carter and Muir, Printing and the Mind of Man 209.

An Appeal for the Legal Rights the Quakers

Octavo (5" x 7-1/2"). Stab-stitched pamphlets bound into contemporary three-quarter calf over marbled baords, rebacked retaining original lettering piece. Some rubbing to boards, corners somewhat worn, hinges cracked but secure. Offsetting to margins of endleaves, early annotations to front pastedown, signature to head of title page of first pamphlet, interiors otherwise clean and fresh. An appealing collection of four scarce titles. $750.
* Only editions. A Brief Account is one of the principal writings of Joseph Besse, an important Quaker controversialist who is best known for his exhaustive compilation A Collection of Sufferings of the People called Quakers (1753). The group of pamphlets collected in this volume is appealing because it contains additional information and records Besse’s response to his critics. Besse incorporated data from these pamphlets into his magnum opus of 1753. BMC 2:1176, 9:1098. See illustration below.

Well-Preserved Second Edition of

Black’s Law Dictionary

22. Black, Henry Campbell [1860-1927], Compiler. A Law Dictionary: Containing Definitions of the Terms and Phrases of American and English Jurisprudence, Ancient and Modern. And Including the Principal Terms of International, Constitutional, Ecclesiastical and Commercial Law, and Medical Jurisprudence, with a Collection of Legal Maxims, Numerous Select Titles from the Roman, Modern Civil, Scotch, French, Spanish, and Mexican Law, and Other Foreign Systems, and a Table of Abbreviations. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1910. 1314 pp. Original buckram, red and black lettering pieces, thumb-tabbed. Some shelfwear and soiling, a few minor satins to boards, internally clean. A very good copy. $650.
* The thoroughly revised second edition of Black’s classic dictionary incorporates several new definitions, additional case citations and many Latin and French terms overlooked in the first edition. Medical jurisprudence in particular is enriched, with new definitions for insanity and pathological and criminal insanity. The second edition is an essential complement to the first edition (1891) because it offers important insights into the rapid development of law at the turn of the century. It is also notable for its revamped system of arrangement, with all compound and descriptive terms subsumed under their related main entries. See illustration below.

Eller 350: The First Edition by Browne

23. Blackstone, Sir William [1723-1780]. 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"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Light toning to margins, interior otherwise fresh. A very nice copy of a scarce edition. $350.
* 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, The William Blackstone Collection in the Yale Law Library 144.

Fourth Edition of Cooley’s Blackstone,

Edited by Andrews, Eller 134

24. Blackstone, Sir William. Cooley, Thomas M. [1824-1898], Editor. Andrews, James DeWitt [1856-1928], Editor. Commentaries on the Laws of England; In Four Books. Together With A Copious Analysis of the Contents, And Notes with References to English and American Decisions and Statutes Which Illustrate or Change the Law of the Text; Also, a Full Table of Abbreviations, And Some Considerations Regarding the Study of the Law. Chicago: Callaghan and Company, 1899. Four books in two volumes. (Blackstone’s paging retained in margin.) Octavo (6-1/2" x 9-1/4"). Contemporary buckram, some shelfwear, portrait frontispiece and front free endpaper of Volume I lacking, crack between preliminaries and following leaf. Owner signature to front pastedown of each volume, interiors otherwise fresh. A nice set. $350.
* Fourth Cooley edition, edited posthumously by Andrews. Cooley was one of the most prominent American jurists of the nineteenth century and an authority on Constitutional law. First issued in 1870, “Cooley’s Blackstone” was the standard American edition of the late nineteenth century. The fourth edition notable because the main text incorporates the translations of foreign-language phrases from J.W. Jones’s Translation of All the Greek, Latin, Italian and French Quotations Which Occur in Blackstone’s Commentaries. Eller 134.

Authentic Eleventh Edition of Blackstone

25. Blackstone, Sir William [1723-1780]. Commentaries on the Laws of England in Four Books. The Eleventh Edition With the Last Corrections of the Author; Additions by Richard Burn, LL.D and Continued to the Present Time, by John Williams, Esq. London: Printed by A. Strahan and W. Woodfall for T. Cadell, 1791. Four volumes. Octavo (5" x 8"). Engraved portrait frontispiece (Volume I), “Table of Consanguinnity” and fold-out “Table of Descents” (Volume II), two-page publisher catalogue (Volume IV). Contemporary tree calf, rebacked in period style with gilt titles and ornaments. Light rubbing to extremities, corners bumped and lightly worn, hinges starting, a few partial cracks to text blocks. Early armorial bookplate to each front pastedown. Trimming to fore-edges of two leaves in Volume IV index with negligible loss to text. Negligible light foxing in a few places, interior otherwise fresh. A nice set.  $1,450.
* Authentic eleventh edition with the additional notes by Williams that are not found in the two pirated “eleventh” editions printed in Dublin in 1788. This set deviates from Eller in three respects: Volume II contains only one pagination error (instead of two); Volume IV has a two-page list of “Books Printed for T. Cadell.” Eller, The William Blackstone Collection at Yale University 20. See illustration below.

28. Browne, G. Lathom; 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.

“Phenomenal Industry Combined with

Sound Scholarship and Wide Knowledge”

29. Buckland, W.W. [Stein, Peter, Reviser]. A Text-Book of Roman Law From Augustus to Justinian. Cambridge: At the University Press, 1963. xvi, 763 pp. Original cloth, some shelfwear, fading to spine. Owner initials to front pastedown, his signature to free endpaper. Occasional neat annotations in pencil, interior otherwise clean. $150.
* Second edition. “The author aims at setting forth for the use of students the main rules of the private law of the Roman Empire, and follows, with some variations the arrangement of the Institutes...[W]e know of no work more free from error or which follows more faithfully the authorized texts than the book before us. It is the result of phenomenal industry, combined with sound scholarship and wide knowledge.”: S.H.L., Law Quarterly Review 38:246-247 cited in Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University (1953) 113.

30. Bunn, Charles W. A Brief Survey of the Jurisdiction and Practice of the Courts of the United States. St. Paul: West Publishing Co., 1914. Reprint. Buffalo: W.S. Hein, 2006. vi, 129 pp. Cloth. New. $65.
* The author provides an overview of the constitutional basis of judicial power, quoting text from the Constitution, particularly in reference to the judicial power vested in the Supreme Court and some of the lower courts. While originally intended to assist law students in their understanding of the courts, this work is an excellent resource for legal researchers and practitioners.

The First American Treatise on

Commercial and Admiralty Law

31. [Caines, George (1771-1825)]. An Enquiry into the Law Merchant of the United States; Or, Lex Mercatoria Americana, on Several Heads of Commercial Importance. Dedicated by Permission to Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States. In Two Volumes. Vol. 1 [all published]. New York: Printed by Isaac Collins & Son, For Abraham and Arthur Stansbury, 1802. xxxviii, [2], 648; clxvii, [1] pp. Octavo (5" x 8-1/2"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, gilt rules and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Occasional early annotations and light foxing, interior otherwise fresh. An handsome copy. $1,500.
* Only edition. With an appendix of forms. As Horwitz has pointed out, this is “the first American treatise on commercial law.” Surrency notes that it was also the first to deal with admiralty law. It focused on shipping and maritime commerce, with substantial sections on insurance and bankruptcy. Reflecting the tension that existed between arbitrators and courts of law, Caines insisted that “in what appertains to trade, let it be constantly remembered, that custom alone is law” (220). Among other topics, this treatise has fascinating entries on the slave trade and the character of different ports. Caines was the official reporter of the New York Supreme Court. OCLC locates 58 copies. Surrency, A History of American Law Publishing 141. Horwitz, The Transformation of American Law 1780-1860 150. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 1570. See illustration below.

33. Callman, Rudolf. The Law of Unfair Competition Trademarks and Monopolies. Third Edition. 5 Vols. Mundelein, IL: Callaghan & Company, 1967. 5 Volumes. Looseleaf format. Some shelfwear, internally clean. Ex-library. Location number to spine, stamps to preliminaries. $150.
* Volume I contains: Nov 1980 supplement; Volume II: Dec 1981 supp; Volume III: Nov 1982 supp; Volume IV: Nov 1982 supp; Volume V: Nov 1983 supp.

Contains an Important Early Case

Involving Deaf-Mutes

34. C[arter], S[amuel], Reporter. Reports of Sevral Special Cases Argued and Resolved in the Court of Common Pleas: in the XVI, XVII, and XIXth Years of King Charles II. In the Time When Sir Orlando Bridgman Sate Chief Justice There. to Which Are Added, Some Cases Adjudged in the Time of Chief Justice Vaughan, Never Before Printed. London: Printed by W. Rawlings, S. Roycroft [et al.], 1688. [vii], 243, [39] pp. Folio (7-1/2" x 12"). Recent period-style calf, paneled boards, raised bands, gilt ornaments and original lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Imprimatur leaf remounted, repairs to head of title page and foot of final index leaf with negligible loss to text, minor chips to edges of a few leaves. Light browning to outer edges of margins, inkstains to a few leaves, occasional light foxing. An attractively bound copy of a scarce title. $250.
* Only edition. Containing cases from 1664 to 1675 (16 Car. II-28 Car II.), this volume is interesting because it contain a significant case dealing with a deaf-mute plaintiff, Martha Elyot. According to a ruling from July 1626, a person born deaf and mute was considered non compos mentis. Elyot confounded this rule because she was clearly intelligent and able to communicate through gesture. On a broader perspective, this report, which refers to an earlier case reported by Bridgman, offers one of the earliest accounts of the history of the education of deaf-mutes in England. Wallace, The Reporters (1882) 329. Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth 1:294.

Uncommon Treatises on Partnership and Usury

35. Cary, Henry [1804-1870]. A Practical Treatise on the Law of Partnership, with Precedents of Copartnership Deeds. xiv, 162 pp.

Philadelphia: J.S. Littell, 1834. Octavo (5" x 8-1/2"). Recent cloth, endpapers renewed, light shelfwear. Light foxing to some leaves, chipping to edges of final two leaves, interior otherwise fresh. $150.
* These are treatises extracted from Numbers 3 and 4 of The Law Library, Volume Five. Published from 1833 to 1860, it aimed to provide American practitioners with affordable editions of the latest English works from every branch of the law. Partnership was first published in 1827, Usury in 1817. OCLC locates 39 copies of each title. Marvin, Legal Bibliography (1847) 177, 217.

36. Chafee, Zechariah [1885-1957]. State House Versus Pent House: Legal Problems at the Rhode Island Race-Track Row. Providence, RI: The Booke Shop, 1937. xxii, 165 pp. Frontispiece. Plates. Map. Softbound, some shelfwear, a few creases to covers, internally clean. $95.
* Based on a series of articles in the Harvard Crimson, this book analyzes a bizarre episode in Rhode Island gaming history. A 1937 dispute regarding the legality of betting on horses led the governor to declare martial law and deploy National Guard troops to seize the racetrack at Narragansett Park. Chafee, a notable professor at Harvard Law School, was descended from a distinguished Rhode Island family and was a member of the state bar.

A Practical Treatise on Adultery and Divorce Illustrated

By One of the Most Colorful Trials of the Day

38. A Civilian. [Kenrick, William (1725?-1779), Attributed]. Free Thoughts on Seduction, Adultery, and Divorce. With Reflections on the Gallantry of Princes, Particularly Those of the Blood-Royal of England. Occasioned by the Late Intrigue Between His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, And Henrietta, Wife of the Right Honourable Richard Lord Grosvenor. Also Remarks on the Trial at Law, Between His Lordship and His Royal Highness, In Consequence of that Illicit Amour; With Observations on the Deposition Since Taken, In the Cause Depending in Doctors-Commons, Between Lord Grosvenor and His Lady. London: Printed for J. Bell, 1771. [iv], 293, [2] pp. Octavo (5" x 8"). Contemporary speckled calf, rebacked with extra-gilt spine with raised bands, endpapers renewed. Rubbing to extremities with light wear to corners. Early owner signature to head of title page. Light foxing in a few places, interior otherwise fresh. An attractive copy of a scarce title. $750.
* Only edition. In 1770 Richard Grosvenor, first Earl Grosvenor, sued Henry Frederick, the Duke of Cumberland and brother of King George III 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. Free Thoughts goes beyond sensationalism to offer a detailed legal analysis of this case. The result is a practical treatise on the English law of adultery and divorce as it stood in the late eighteenth century. OCLC locates 15 copies. Not in Sweet & Maxwell. Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law School (1909) [HLC] I:725. See illustration below.

39. [Copyright Law]. Talfourd, Sir Thomas Noon [1795-1854]. A Speech Delivered by Thomas Noon Talfourd, Sergeant at Law, In the House of Commons, On Wednesday, 25th April, 1838, On Moving the Second Reading of the Bill to Amend the Law of Copyright. London: Edward Moxon, 1838. 22 pp. Octavo (5-1/4" x 8-1/2"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet. Fine. $95.
* Second issue. OCLC locates 3 copies of this issue, 8 of the first issue, which was published in 1837.

Curtis’s Important Treatise on Patents

40. Curtis, George Ticknor [1812-1894]. A Treatise on the Law of Patents for Useful Inventions, as Enacted and Administered in the United States of America. Revised and Enlarged. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1867. 8, xxxviii, 631 pp. Includes eight-page publisher catalogue. Octavo (6" x 9"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Toning to margins, interior otherwise fresh. $750.
* Third edition of one of the earliest American treatises on the subject. The Anglo-American tradition of granting patents has often been marked by confusion over their scope and intent. Reflecting, for example, on the fundamental question of whether patents create monopolies, juridical commentators and the bench had come down firmly both in favor and against the idea. Curtis argued that it did not according to the common law. Instead, a patent was a “grant by the government to the author of a new and useful invention, of the exclusive right, for a term of years, of practising that invention” (xxi). The fourth and final edition of this work was published in 1873. HLC I:503.

With Four Charming Pen-and-Ink Caricatures by

the Book’s Owner, Sir Charles Lockwood

42. Darling, Charles John [1849-1936]. Scintillae Juris. London: Davis & Son, 1879. 111 pp. Quarto (5" x 6-1/2"). Contemporary laid paper boards, deckle edges. Light shelfwear and a few minor smudges, some fading to spine. “Frank Lockwood/ from the / Author” in bold hand to front free endpaper, four attractive original pen-and-ink Caricatures (with captions) by Sir Charles Lockwood in the margins of pp. 19, 22, 27 and 29, interior otherwise clean and fresh. Initialed autograph presentation letter from Lockwood to Lord Mansfield dated 17 December 1884 laid in. A unique copy. $500.
* Third edition, enlarged. First published anonymously in 1877, Scintillae Juris is a collection of essays and anecdotes about English Law and its development during the 19th Century. Its titles include “Of Laws,” “Of Judges,” “Of Prisoners,” “Of Telling a Story,” “Of Examining-in-Chief,” “Of Witnesses,” “Of Cross-Examination,” “Of Evidence,” “Of Sentences,” “Of Advocacy,” and “Of Maxims.” Lockwood, a formidable lawyer and member of Parliament, was known for his skill as a caricaturist, which is evident in this book; he depicts Chief Justice Coleridge, Lord Justice James, Lord Bramwell and Lord Chief Justice Kelly. BMC 6:977. See illustration below.

43. Darrow, Clarence S. [1857-1938]. An Eye for an Eye. New York: Fox Duffield & Company, 1905. 213 pp. Reprinted 1996 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New. $55.
* An Eye for an Eye was Darrow’s only fictional work, aside from his autobiographical novel, Farmington, published in 1904.

44. Darrow, Clarence and William J. Bryan [1860-1925]. The World’s Most Famous Court Trial. Tennessee Evolution Case. A Complete Stenographic Report of the Famous Court Test of the Anti-Evolution Act, at Dayton July 10 to 21, 1925, Including Speeches and Arguments of Attorneys. Cincinnati: National Book Company, [1925]. [4], 339 pp. Reprinted 1997 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New. $75.
* Complete transcript of the celebrated “monkey trial,” the case of the State of Tennessee vs. John Thomas Scopes, a 24-year old high school teacher accused of violating a recently enacted state law that banned the teaching of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

First American Edition of

Important Treatise on English Constitution

45. De Lolme, J[ean] L[ouis] [1740-1806]. The Constitution of England; Or, an Account of The English Government In Which it is Compared Both With the Republican Form of Government, And the Other Monarchies in Europe. A New Edition, Enlarged. New York: Printed by Hodge & Campbell, 1792. xvi, [1], 26-376, [8] pp. Octavo (4-1/2" x 7"). Contemporary sheep, gilt fillets and lettering piece to spine. Moderate rubbing, scuffing to boards, chip to foot of spine, boards and front free endpaper partially detached. Partial crack near center of text block, chip to lower corner of a leaf with no loss to text, light foxing in a few places. Early owner signatures to front pastedown and free endpaper, interior otherwise clean. $500.
* First American edition. First published in 1722, this highly regarded popular exposition of the English constitution by a Swiss jurist went though several editions well into the nineteenth century. It was held in high regard by many of the founding fathers; Hamilton cites it favorably in The Federalist. “This work has been held in high estimation from its first publication, and still holds a distinguished place. (...) It has been made the basis of larger works upon the same subject, by Stephens and Western. Judge Story remarks that the author `has presented a view of English Equity Jurisprudence, far more exact and comprehensive than many of the English text writers on the same subject.’”: Marvin 263. OCLC locates 42 copies of this edition. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 2754.

46. Department of Justice, United States. The Attorney General’s Conference on Organized Crime. February 15, 1950. [And] Gambling Devices. Hearings Before the Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce. House of Representatives, Eighty-First Congress, Second Session. [Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1950]. Two parts in one volume. xvii, 134; iv, 308 pp. Original cloth, some shelfwear, internally clean. $95.

49. Dickinson, John. Administrative Justice and the Supremacy of Law. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1927. xiii, 403 pp. Reprinted 2003 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New.  $150.
* Dickinson [1894-1952] examines the relationship between administrative tribunals and the courts, and problems that arise from the judicial review of administrative determinations.

50. Drury, Clifford M. Chief Lawyer of the Nez Perce Indians, 1796-1876. Glendale, CA: A.H. Clark Co., 1979. 304 pp. Illustrations, some in color. Original cloth, light shelfwear, internally clean. $45.
* A title in the Northwest Historical Series.

On an Act of Clemency Issued

After the 1715 Jacobite Rising

51. [Earbery, Matthias]. A Vindication of the History of Clemency, With Reflections Upon the Proceedings Against the Author. In a Letter From Himself at Paris, To His Friend in London. To Which is Added, An Edition of the Said History, With Additions. Address’d to All That Ever Design to be in Arms, Against an Establish’d Government, For Their Information and Benefit. London: [s.n.], 1720. [2], xxix, [37], 167 pp. Second part preceded by individual title page and fold-out copperplate frontispiece. 12mo. (3-1/2" x 6"). Recent period-style quarter calf over marbled boards, blind rules and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Faint dampspotting in a few places, interior otherwise fresh. A handsome copy of a scarce title. $1,000.
* Only edition in this form. The second title reads: The History of the Clemency of Our English Monarchs. The Usage Prisoners, Who Surrender’d at Discretion, Have Met with From Their Hands. Compar’d with Several Matters of Fact Which Have Lately Occur’d in This Kingdom. With an Account of the Manner of Issuing Forth Acts of Grace and Pardon in Former Reigns. Written for the Information of the Present Age, And of Posterity. Second Edition, With Additions. First published in 1717, the History of Clemency praised King George II for issuing a general act of pardon after the defeat of the First Jacobite Rising of 1715. Matthias Earbery was an industrious Whig pamphleteer and controversialist. He fled England in 1720 after he angered the king in a pamphlet that accused him of putting his interests ahead of those of Great Britain. OCLC locates 6 copies, 4 in North America at the Library of Congress, the Newberry Library, the University of Illinois and the Houghton Library of Harvard University. BMC 7:1060. See illustration below.

54. Ellis, Ridsdale, and Anthony W. Deller. Patent Licenses. Mount Kisco, N.Y.: Baker, Voorhies & Company, Inc., 1958. lxii, 638 pp. Original cloth, light shelfwear, internally clean. $75.
* Third Edition.

55. Farnam, Henry W. Chapters in the History of Social Legislation in the United States to 1860. Washington: Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1938. xx, 496 pp. Reprinted 2000 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New. $100.
* A social history of the class system in the United States from the colonial period through the constitutional era dealing primarily with slavery. Other legislative areas affected by the social structure of the times covered include laws of debt, land tenure, fair trade and food supply.

The Book that “Made” the Common Law

London: Richard Tottell, 1577. [ii], 342 [i.e. 341]; [ii], 265; [ii], 66 fols. First and second parts of abridgment have title pages. Small folio (6"-1/2" x 9-1/4"). Contemporary calf, large blind arabesques to boards, rebacked in period style with raised bands, endpapers renewed. Rubbing to boards with moderate loss to corners, “Fitzherbert” in early hand to fore-edges of text block. Handsome woodcut architectural borders to title pages. About 1" trimmed from margins with occasional minor loss, title page of Part I, which has noticeable loss to its fore and bottom edges, mounted and reattached. Light toning, faint dampspotting in a few places, chipping to edges of a few leaves at ends of text block with minor loss, occasional short clean tears to edges, one longer tear carefully mended with archival tape. Brief early annotations and underlining to portions of text. A handsomely bound copy of a scarce title. $5,000.
* Second Tottell edition. Arguably one of the most imposing volumes in the history of English law, Fitzherbert abridged over 14,000 cases under 260 titles in alphabetical order. First printed around 1514, it was the first serious attempt to arrange the law systematically, and served as a model to such writers as Brooke and Rolle. According to Boersma, Fitzherbert accomplished “nothing less that to abridge all notes of significant cases at common law.” Graham and Heckel refer to this work as the “book that ‘made’ the Common Law.”: Law Library Journal 51 [1957]: 100-101. Cowley, A Bibliography of Abridgments, Digest, Dictionaries and Indexes to the Year 1800 32. See illustration below.

58. Forgeus, Elizabeth. The History of the Storrs Lectureship in Yale Law School. The First Three Decades, 1890-1920. [New Haven, CT]: Yale University Law Library by the Yale University Press, 1940. viii, 128 pp. Illustrated. Softbound, worn, internally clean.  $25.
* Yale Law Library Publications, No. 9 September 1940.

59. Freeman, Samuel [1743-1831]. The Town Officer; Or the Power and Duty of Selectmen, Town Clerks, Town Treasurers, Overseers of the Poor, Assessors, Constables, Collectors of Taxes, Surveyors of Highways, Surveyors of Lumber, Fence Viewers, Field Drivers, Measurers of Wood, and Other Town Officers, As Contained in the Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With a Variety of Forms for the Use of Such Officers. To Which is Prefixed the Constitutions of Said Commonwealth and of the United States: and Thereto is Added the Power and Duty of Towns, Parishes, and Plantations, a Plain and Regular Method of Keeping Town Accounts, and a Table of Crimes and Punishments, also, an Appendix, Containing some Inspection and Other Laws at Large; With Other Useful Matter. Boston: Printed by J.T. Buckingham, for Thomas & Andrews, no. 45, Newbury-Street, 1808. vi, 372 pp. Octavo (4-1/4" x 7"). Contemporary sheep, blind fillets to boards, lettering piece and blind fillets to spine. Some rubbing and a few scuffs, corners bumped. Tear to corner of a leaf with minor loss to text. Some toning, interior otherwise fresh. A well-preserved copy. $75.
* Seventh edition. Includes advertisements for second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh editions, and explanations of abbreviations. Freeman represented the Province of Maine in the Massachusetts legislature and was a probate judge. OCLC locates 18 copies this edition. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 8284.

60. Fuller, Lon L. Anatomy of the Law. New York: Frederick A. Praeger, [1968]. [iii], 122 pp. Cloth very good in lightly worn dust jacket. Bookplate to front pastedown, internally clean. $85.
* First edition. The first part examines the integrity of the legal system and clarifies the purposes of criminal law. The second part explains the development of law as a force in society.

Interesting Comparative Study of Marriage Laws

61. Fulton, John [1834-1907]. The Laws of Marriage: Containing the Hebrew Law, The Roman Law, The Law of the New Testament, And the Canon Law of the Universal Church, Concerning the Impediments of Marriage and the Dissolution of the Marriage Bond; Digested and Arranged, With Notes and Scholia. New York: E. & J.B. Young & Co., 1883. xvii, 270 pp. Fold-out table. Octavo (5" x 7-1/2"). Original cloth, blind rules to boards, gilt title to spine. Rubbing with some wear to extremities, fading to spine, front hinge cracked but secure, rear free endpaper lacking, signature near center of text block partially detached, internally clean. A solid copy of a scarce title. $150.
* Only edition. “Into the theology of marriage I have entered as little as into its physiology. I have not debated whether marriage is a sacrament which confers grace, any more than I have discussed the spirituality of sex. Purely legal questions I have not touched; and I have glanced but slightly and incidentally at the ethics of the married state. My only subject is the law relating to impediments of marriage and the dissolution of the marriage bond” (viii). OCLC locates 32 copies.

Dickens Exposes Some Cruel

Features of the Legal System

62. Fyfe, Thomas Alexander. Charles Dickens and the Law. Edinburgh: William Hodge & Co., 1910. 79 pp. Reprinted 2006 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New. $45.
* Based on an address to the Glasgow Dickens Society, this essay praises the author’s detailed knowledge of the law and legal community. Indeed, “he made no such mistakes as many authors—even though of high standing—sometimes make. He laid down no bad law....” (78). More important, Fyfe advances the novel argument that his writings “exposed some cruel features of the legal system of his day” and influenced public opinion to demand their reform.

Charming Poems by a Tennessee Lawyer

63. Gaines, Albert Winston [b.1855]. Flotsam and Jetsam. Brookline, MA: The Riverdale Press, 1913. vi, 106, [1] pp. Original cloth, gilt title to spine, top edge gilt. Light shelfwear with some fraying to spine ends. Later owner inkstamp to bottom edge of text block, internally clean.  $125.
* Poems by a Lawyer from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Some examples: “The Opinion,” “Fink v. Evans,” “The Lawyer’s Lachrymal Rights,” “Golf versus Law,” “The Law Student’s Soliloquy,” “The Jury,” and “In re Goose.”

64. Gibson, Sir Herbert. Centenary of The Law Society, 1825-1925: Presidential Address Delivered in the Society’s Hall, Chancery Lane, London, On Tuesday, 13th October 1925. [London: Printed by Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co., Ltd., c. 1925]. 39 pp. Later buckram, light shelfwear, internally clean. Ex-library. Bookplate to front pastedown, stamps to endleaves. $75.
* OCLC locates 6 copies.

65. Goldin, Hyman E. The Case of the Nazarene Reopened. New York: The Exposition Press, [1948]. 863 pp. Reprinted 2003 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New. $125.
* Written in the form of a court transcript, this book offers Goldin’s position that the Jews were not responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. To prove his case, the author, a lawyer and rabbi, summons such witnesses as Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Peter as well as an array of legal, exegetical, linguistic and historical experts.

1718 Abridgment of British Customs Statutes