Popular and Influential Nineteenth-Century

Treatise on Natural Law

5. Ahrens, Heinrich [1808-1874]. Cours de Droit Naturel ou de Philosophie du Droit. Fait D’Apres L’Etat Actuel de Cette Science en Allemagne. Brussels: Societe Typographique Belge, 1840. xiii, 512 pp. Octavo (6" x 9"). Contemporary vellum, black-stamped title and ornaments to spine. Light rubbing to extremities, small stain to rear board, fore-edge of front board worn with small chip to lower corner. “1834” in tiny hand to center of spine, early owner signature to front free endpaper, interior otherwise clean. An attractively bound copy.  $300.
* Second edition. This popular and influential treatise on natural law was first published in 1834. Its final edition, the eighth, was published in 1892. Ahrens was a professor of legal philosophy at the University of Graz and later professor of political science at the University of Leipzig. Walker, Oxford Companion to Law 43. This edition not in the British Museum Catalogue [BMC].

6. Austin, John [1790-1859]. The Province of Jurisprudence Determined. London: John Murray, 1832. Reprint. Birmingham: The Legal Classics Library, 1984. xx, 391, lxxvi pp. Calf, decorative gilt stamping, raised bands, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, ribbon marker. Fine.  $95.
* The Province of Jurisprudence exercised enormous influence in England. “The importance of his work was the strict delimitation of the sphere of law and its distinction from that of morality, elaboration of the idea of law as a kind of command, and the close examination of the connotations of such common legal terms as right, duty, liberty, injury [and] punishment....”: Walker 96.

The Most Important Legal Compilation Between

Justinian and the Medieval Era

7. [Basilica]. [Basil I, Emperor of the East (c.813-886 CE)]. Fabrot, Charles Annibal [1580-1659], Editor. [Ton Basilikon Biblia XI: Basilikon Libri LX in VII Tomos Divisi. Latine Vertit, & Graece Edidit ex Bibliotheca Regis Christianissimi]. Paris: Sumptibus Sebastiani Cramoisy and Gabrielis Cramoisy, 1647. Seven volumes. Preface and notes in Latin. Main text in Greek with parallel Latin translation. Folio (9" x 14"). Contemporary calf, rebacked in period style with raised bands, lettering pieces and gilt ornaments, marbled endpapers, speckled edges. Some rubbing to boards with noticeable wear to extremities. Title pages with large woodcut devices printed in red and black, woodcut head-pieces and decorated initials. Small later owner bookplate to front endleaf of each volume. Light browning, faint spotting to portions of text. An attractive copy of an important title.  $12,500.
* First edition, and the basis for all subsequent editions. Compiled around 900 CE under the direction of Eastern Emperor Basil I and his successor, Leo VI, the Basilica is the most important legal compilation produced between the time of Justinian and the Medieval era and the foundation of Byzantine jurisprudence. Divided into 60 books, it is a thorough revision of Justinian’s Digest, Code, Novels, Institutes and subsequent legislation. The Basilica is arranged more systematically than the Digest and Code, eliminates most of their contradictions and repetitions and clarifies their language by replacing Latin legal terms with Greek equivalents. Only a few copies of the complete Basilica were produced by scribes, but several manuscript extracts, synopses and handbooks based on it circulated widely in the Mediterranean world. It was forgotten after the fall of Byzantine Empire in 1453 but rediscovered in the sixteenth century. Fabrot’s 1647 Paris edition restored the complete text. This important reconstruction was followed by Gustav Heimbach’s critical edition (Leipzig, 1833-1870), which served as the foundation of the latest critical edition by H.J. Scheltema and N. van der Wal (Groningen, 1953-present). OCLC locates 2 copies, 1 in North America at the University of Georgia Law School. KVK locates 12 copies, 1 in North America at the Library of Congress. Another copy located at Harvard Law School. Walker 118. British Museum Catalogue 21:988.

See illustration below.

8. Beale, Joseph H. A Treatise on the Conflict of Laws. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Co., 1935. Three volumes. Reprinted 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New.  $450.
* Reprint of the first edition. Beale’s treatise ranks with Williston on Contracts and Wigmore on Evidence as one of the undisputed classics of twentieth-century American law. In fact, Jerome Frank claimed in Law and the Modern Mind that it may be the best legal work produced in his lifetime (48).

The Essence of Bentham’s Legal Philosophy

9. Bentham, Jeremy [1748-1832]. An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. London: Printed for T. Payne, 1789. Reprint. Birmingham: Legal Classics Library, 1986. cccxxxv, [31] pp. Calf, decorative gilt stamping, raised bands, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, ribbon marker. Bookplate to front pastedown, otherwise fine.  $95.
* Facsimile reprint of the first edition (1789). This work “is the best written of all Bentham’s works and contains...the gist of the legal philosophy which he applied in detail in many other books and papers.”: Holdsworth, History of English Law XIII: 49.

10. Benton, Josiah. A Notable Libel Case: The Criminal Prosecution of Theodore Lyman, Jr. by Daniel Webster in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts November Term 1828. Boston: Charles E. Goodspeed, 1904. Quarter-cloth over marbled boards in slipcase, deckle edges, paper title label to spine. Some shelfwear and a faint stain to case, book near fine.  $50.
* From an edition limited to 400 copies, this copy unnumbered. Printed by D.B. Updike, the Merrymount Press.

Rare Treatise on the Roman Law Regarding Widows

11. Bersano, Bartolommeo [1668-1707]. Tractatus de Viduis Earumque Privilegiis et Juribus Activis et Passivis, Tum Etiam de Viduis Secundo Nubentibus & Poenis Illarum. Cum Indicibus Quaestionum & Rerum Notabilium. Geneva: Sumptibus Cramer & Perachon, 1699. [xii], 199, 47 pp. Folio (8-1/2" x 13"). Contemporary vellum, raised bands, early hand lettered title to spine and bottom edge. A few inkstains, early owner initials to front board. Moderate rubbing with some wear to spine and corners, front hinge cracked, rear hinge starting, boards slightly bowed. Title page with large woodcut device printed in red and black, woodcut head-pieces, tail-pieces and decorated initials. Light browning and foxing. Early owner signatures to title page, a few early check marks to text, interior otherwise clean.  $950.
* Second edition, one of two imprints published in 1699. (The other was published in Lyon.) First published in 1662, Bersano’s treatise examines Roman law relating to widows. 1 copy located in North America at Harvard Law School. KVK locates 3 copies of this edition, 6 copies of all editions. BMC 2:1129.

13. Bittker, Boris I. Charitable Bequests and the Federal Estate Tax: Proposed Restrictions on Deductibity. New York: The Assocation of the Bar of the City of New York, 1975. 28 pp. Original cloth, light shelfwear, internally clean. Ex-U.S. Supreme Court Library. Location label to front board, bookplate to front pastedown, stamps to endleaves.  $25.
* Text of the Seventh Mortimer H. Hess Memorial Lecture Delivered Before the Association of the Bar of the City of New York on December 4, 1975.

A Handsome Quarto Set

14. Blackstone, Sir William [1723-1780]. Commentaries on the Laws of England. Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, 1767-1770. Four volumes. Quarto (8-1/2" x 10-1/2"). Handsome recent period-style quarter calf in period style over cloth, gilt lettering pieces, raised bands, endpapers renewed. Title page volume I expertly mended and reattached. An attractive set.  $2,000.
* Mixed quarto edition: Volume I: third edition, 1768; Volume II: second edition, 1767; Volume III: [first edition] 1768; Volume IV: fourth edition, 1770. The best historical account of English law and the first to treat it as a coherent system, its literary form and completeness of treatment is unequaled. Eller, The William Blackstone Collection in the Yale Law Library 2, 4, 5.

See illustration below.

Handsome 1856 New York Edition of

the Commentaries. Eller 111

15. Blackstone, Sir William. Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books. With the Last Corrections of the Author, And Notes, From the Twenty-First London Edition. With Copious Notes Explaining the Changes in the Law Effective by Decision or Statute Down to 1844. Vol. First by J.F. Hargrave, Vol. Second, by G. Sweet, Vol. Third, By R. Couch, Vol. Fourth, by W.N. Welsby. Together With Notes Adapting the Work to the American Student by John L. Wendell. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1856. Four volumes. Three tables, two fold-out. Octavo (5-3/4" x 9"). Contemporary three-quarter calf over marbled boards, marbled endleaves and edges. Light rubbing with minor wear to extremities, rear hinge of Volume I cracked but secure, front hinge of Volume I starting at head. Light foxing and inkspots in some places, interiors otherwise fresh. A very handsome set.  $1,500.
* Reissue of the 1847 New York Wendell edition, based on the twenty-first London edition. Paging irregular, following Blackstone’s paging in the margins. Wendell’s notes are starred. This edition includes Blackstone’s “Analysis” and Clitherow’s “Life of the Author.” OCLC locates 14 copies of this edition. Eller 111.

PMM 89: A Landmark Work and

The “Crown and Flower of Medieval Jurisprudence”

19. Bracton, Henry de, [d. 1268]. De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae, Libri Quinq. London: Apud Richardum Tottellum, 1569. Small folio (7-1/2" x 10-3/4") [32] pp., 444 [i.e. 442] fol. Nineteenth-century calf, blind rules to boards, raised bands and black-stamped ornaments to spine, lettering piece lacking, edges rouged, blind inside dentelles, endpapers renewed. Some rubbing to boards and extremities, light soiling to title page, following leaf, and final two leaves. Attractive large woodcut decorated initials. Early inscription and “W. Foster 1736” to head of title page, bookplate of The Hon. Henry Booth to recto of *3. A few small inkstains, underlining and annotations in fine early hand to some passages, interior otherwise clean. Discoloration to margins of a few leaves, text otherwise fresh. Ex-library. Small gilt-stamp insignia of the Glasgow Faculty of Procurators to front board. An appealing copy of a landmark work.  $15,000.

* First edition. De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae [The Laws and Customs of England] is the first treatise on English law. A systematic work, it emphasizes the separation of procedural and substantive matters and also cites cases as sources of at least intellectual, if not formal, authority. In Maitland’s words, Bracton’s Legibus is “the crown and flower of English medieval jurisprudence” and “by far the greatest of our medieval law books.” Sweet & Maxwell add that it “is distinguished by rich casuistic details, and by the careful reproduction of the judicial decisions on individual cases of law.”: Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth 1:51(6). Maitland, Collected Works II:43. Beale, Bibliography of Early English Law Books T323. Printing and the Mind of Man 89.
See illustration below.

Bracton’s Laws and Customs of England

20. [Bracton, Henry de]. Thorne, Samuel E., Translator. Bracton on the Laws and Customs of England. Edited by George E. Woodbine. Translated, with revisions and notes, by Samuel E. Thorne. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press [in association with the Selden Society], 1968-1977. Reprint W. S. Hein, 1997. 4 Vols. Cloth. New.  $425.
* Translation of De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae, with facing Latin and English texts. The Latin text is reproduced from the four-volume Yale edition of 1915-1942 by George Woodbine; the English translation by Thorne is widely recognized as the best. This set also contains an extensive critical apparatus, including a pedigree of Bracton’s manuscripts.

21. Brown, Everett S. The Constitutional History of the Louisiana Purchase 1803-1812. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1920. xi, 248 pp. Reprinted 2001 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New.  $75.
* With access to manuscripts never before utilized, Brown provides a coherent and interesting narrative that describes how the legislators interpreted the constitution while dealing with the issues that arose as a consequence of the purchase of Louisiana. For example, an issue of far-reaching significance is the issue of slavery that was raised and debated decades before it became the issue that divided the country during the Senate debate on the Louisiana Government Bill. This work offers the first published account of that important debate.

23. Burke, Edmund. Select Works. Edited with an Introduction and Notes by E.J. Payne. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1881. 2 Vols. lxii, 328; lxx, 384 pp. Reprinted 2005 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. 2005. Cloth. New.  $150.
* An appealing compilation of Burke’s principal works, including On the Causes of the Present Discontents (1770), which treats the expulsion of Wilkes from Parliament and the value of political parties, the speech On Conciliation with the American Colonies (1775), which supported the cause of the colonists, and Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790), a classic criticism of the revolution and its actors. Burke [1729-1797] is considered a founder of modern conservatism.

A “Few Words” on the Law

24. By a Recluse. Few Words on Many Subjects, Grave and Light, in Law, Politics, Religion, Language, and Miscellanies. London: Printed for Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-Row, 1831. viii, 294 pp. 12mo. (4" x 6-1/2"). Contemporary morocco over marbled boards, speckled edges. Light rubbing with minor wear to extremities, contemporary bookplates of James Barratt and Charles J. Bewlay to front pastedown. Light foxing to a few leaves, interior otherwise fresh. A lovely copy of a fairly uncommon book.  $450.
* Only edition. This is a series of charming, thoughtful and elegantly written essays. The chapters in the law section are: “The Judges,” “The Barristers,” “The Attorneys,” “Complaints of Want of Simplicity in Our Laws,” “Blackstone and the Game Laws,” “Oaths of Office, &c.,” “Recognizances for Future Conduct,” “Law of Insolvency,” “Indentures,” “Forgery,” “Refinements in Criminal Law,” “Stage-Coach Law,” “Convictions by Justices of the Peace,” “Copyhold Estates” and “Common Recoveries.” OCLC locates 2 copies, 1 at Cambridge University and 1 at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. KVK locates 7 copies, all in the United Kingdom. BMC 21:255.

Legal Definitions Illustrated

With Copperplate Engravings

25. Castelli, Guiseppe Antonio. Questioni Diverse Sulle Servitu Prediali Vedute in Centoquarantaquattro Figure in Rame ed Applicabili a Qualsivoglia Caso. Milano: Da Placido Maria Visaj, 1820. [iv], 3-126, 24 leaves, each containing six copperplates. Folio (8" x 12-1/2"). Contemporary paper boards with printed paper spine label. Some shelfwear and soiling, front hinge cracked but secure, corners bumped and somewhat worn, partial crack between text and plates. Some toning to plates, occasional light foxing, interior otherwise fresh. An interesting and rare treatise.  $1,250.
* First edition. This treatise examines servitudes, right of way, irrigation laws and laws concerning access to light and air (easements) in Italy and Italian-controlled regions of Austria. An interesting feature is its collection of plates illustrating specific legal points. Each plate is keyed to the text with a system of letters and numbers. Two more editions of this treatise were published in 1830 and 1840. 2 copies located in North America at Harvard Law School, which has an 1830 edition, and the Library of Congress, which has an 1840 edition. KVK locates 1 copy of the 1820 edition, 4 of all three. Not in the BMC.
See illustration below.

Comprehensive Italian Commentary on Canon Law

26. Cavallari (Cavallarius), Domenico [1724-1781]. Commentaria de Iure Canonico: Quibus Vetus & Nova Ecclesiae Disciplina & Mutationum Caussae Enarrantur. Opera Posthuma. Naples: Apud Novam Societatem Litterariam et Typographicam, 1788. 3 parts in six volumes. Quarto (6-1/2" x 8-1/2"). Contemporary vellum, gilt-stamped and hand-colored lettering panels to spines, speckled edges, ribbon markers. Light shelfwear, a few minor scuffs, spine ends bumped, most corners bumped, a few lightly worn. Occasional light foxing, interiors otherwise fresh. A handsome copy of a scarce set.  $2,500.
* Similar in style to Blackstone’s Commentaries, this is a synoptic commentary on the Corpus Juris Canonici in three parts: De Personis Ecclesiasticis, De Rebus Ecclesiasticis and De Judiciis & Poenis Ecclesiasticis. First published in 1764-1771, it went through several editions and reissues. Its final edition (in Spanish) was published in 1852. Cavalari was a professor of law at the University of Naples. 1 copy on KVK, 28 of other editions. 3 later editions on OCLC. Five copies of other editions located in North America, 1 of this edition at Harvard Law School. Not in the British Museum Catalogue. Ferreira-Ibarra, The Canon Law Collection of the Library of Congress (Citing other editions).
See illustration below.

29. Clyde, The Rt. Hon. James Avon, Editor. Hope’s Major Practicks 1608-1633. Edinburgh: Neill & Co. Ltd., 1937. Two volumes. Illustrations. Original cloth, moderate shelfwear, internally clean.  $65.
* The Stair Society.

 “Pirate” First Italian Edition of the Code Napoleon

31. [Code Napoleon]. Codice di Napoleone: Il Grande pel Regno d’Italia. Florence: Presso Molini, Landi, E Comp., 1806. [ii], 553 pp. Italian and French in parallel columns. 12mo. (3-1/2" x 5"). Contemporary sheep with cats-paw decoration, lettering piece and gilt fillets to spine, marbled endpapers. Rubbing with light wear to extremities, corners bumped and worn, rear hinge cracked but secure. Early annotation to verso of front free endpaper. Offsetting to margins and dampspotting to endleaves, corner lacking from front free endpaper. Occasional light foxing, interior otherwise fresh.  $850.
* The first official Italian edition was published in Milan in 1806. Pirate editions were published the same year in Florence and Naples. Arguably the greatest legal code since Justinian, the Code Napoleon rationalized the complexity of French law and infused it with the spirit of the Enlightenment. Renamed the Civil Code after the Bourbon restoration, it is still in force. It also served as the model for the legal codes of more than twenty nations throughout the world, including the present-day Italian Civil Code. KVK locates 9 copies of this edition, 3 in North America. This edition not in the BMC.

1500 Compilation of Acts and

Decrees of the Council of Constance

34. [Council of Constance (1414-1418)]. [Locher, Jakob (1471-1528), and Konrad Summenhardt (1461-1511), Editors]. Acta Scitu Dignissima Docteq[ue] Co[n]cinnata Constantiensis Concilii Celebratissimi. [Hagenau: Hainrich Grau for Johann Rynman, 11 April 1500. [111 leaves]. Final leaf, 112, a blank, lacking. Quarto (gathered in 8s). Collation: A-O8. Recent period-style unlettered limp vellum with ties, raised bands to spine, endpapers renewed. Book housed in attractive linen-covered clamshell box with vellum spine label. Rubricated throughout, text printed in 36-line gothic type. Purchase inscription of Abbott Heinricus of the Benedictine monastery of Tagensee, Bavaria, dated 1500, to foot of title page, small early hand-lettered page numbers to each leaf. Clean tear to head of one leaf, chips to margins of two others with no loss to text, interior otherwise fresh. A well-preserved and attractively bound copy in a handsome box.  $7,500.
* First edition. This work is based on a manuscript volume of acts and decrees of the Council of Constance (Konstanz) (1414-1418) owned by Hieronymus de Coraria. Published at the urging of Summenhardt and Locher in 1500, it went through three subsequent editions in 1506, 1511 and 1514. The main achievement of the Council was its resolution of the three-way Papal schism that resulted from the Avignon Papacy. At the end of the council Pope John XXIII and Avignon Pope Benedict XII were deposed and Pope Gregory XII resigned. Having resolved the question of papal succession, Bishop Oddone Colonna [1417-1431] was elected to the papacy and became Pope Martin V. Another important goal of the council was the punishment of proto-Reformers John Wycliffe [c.1320-1384], the founder of the Lollard movement and the first person to translate the Bible into English, and Jan Hus [1369-1415], a disciple of Wycliffe who attacked papal indulgences. Both were condemned by the council. Hus was burned at the stake; Wycliff’s bones were disinterred and burned. 7 copies of this edition located in North America, 13 of all editions. KVK locates 13 copies of this edition, 23 of all editions worldwide. Goff, Incunabula in American Libraries C800. Catalogue of Books Printed in the XVth Century Now in the British Museum III687. Gesamtkatalog Wiegendrucke 7287.
See illustration on front cover and below.

Fine Copy of the 1708 Edition

of Cowell’s Law Dictionary

35. Cowel[l], John [1554-1611]. [Kennett, White]. A Law Dictionary: Or, the Interpreter of Words and Terms, Used Either in the Common or Statute Laws of That Part of Great Britain, Call’d England; and In Tenures and Jocular Customs. London: B. Browne et. al., 1708. Not paginated, printed in double columns. Complete. Includes one-leaf publisher catalogue. Folio (8" x 13"). Contemporary unlettered calf, a few minor inkstains, lightly rubbed. A very fresh unrestored copy.  $700.
* Penultimate edition of a work first published in 1607, edited and enlarged, presumable by Kennett. Cowell “advanced the opinion that the English Monarchy was an absolute monarchy, and that the king only consulted Parliament by his ‘goodness in waiving his absolute power to make laws without their consent’” (DNB). As indicated by such definitions as “King,” “Prerogative,” “Parliament” and “Subsidies,” this bias affected his scholarship. It was so strong, in fact, that the first edition was suppressed by the House of Commons. White added a preface that attacked Cowell’s detractors. Later law lexicographers of the following century found Cowell’s work essential. Dictionary of National Biography [DNB] IV: 1300. Cowley, A Bibliography of Abridgments, Digests, Dictionaries and Indexes of English Law 194.

Collected Works of a “Consummate Master of

Jurisprudence, Philology and History”

36. Cujas, Jacques [1522-1590]. Fabrot, Charles Annibal [1580-1659], Editor. Opera ad Parisiensem Fabrotianam Editionem Diligentissime Exacta in Tomos XIII. Distributa Auctiora Atque Emendatiora. Prati: Ex Officina Fratr. Giachetti, 1836-1844. Thirteen volumes in twelve books Octavo (7-1/2" x 10"). Contemporary three-quarter vellum over marbled boards, red and black calf lettering pieces to spines. Light soiling and some rubbing, chipping to edges of some lettering pieces. Occasional toning, light browning and foxing. Later owner signatures and bookplates to front endleaves, interiors otherwise clean.  $5,000.
* Reissue of an edition first published in 1658 containing all editions and original works. Cujas, a professor of law at the universities of Cahors, Bourges, Valencia and Turin, was the preeminent authority on Roman law in his day and one of its most important scholars. He recovered and published the Codex Theodosianus and the Basilica and several commentaries and editions. “He is the outstanding representative of humanism in Roman law. The glossators had studied Roman law as it stood at Justinian’s death and the commentators, or Bartolists, had used their comprehensive knowledge of Justinian acquired by the glossators as the basis of a systematic science, but as theirs was practical they introduced non-Roman elements into the civil law and adapted it to contemporary needs. The school of Cujas viewed the Roman texts as historical documents, interpreting them in the full setting of ancient history and literature. A consummate master of jurisprudence, philology and history, Cujas may claim to be the greatest legal scholar of all time” (Zulueta). Fabrot was a French jurist who continued the work of Cujas and edited the first complete edition of the Basilica. His collected-works edition of Cujas was reissued several times. OCLC locates 2 copies of this edition, neither in North America. KVK locates 5 copies, 1 in North America at the National Library of Canada. 1 other copy located at Harvard Law School. This edition not in the BMC.
See illustration below.

One of the Major Nineteenth-Century

Works on the Constitution

38. Curtis, George Ticknor [1812-1894]. History of the Origin, Formation, and Adoption of the Constitution of the United States; with Notices of Its Principal Framers. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1854, 1858. Two volumes. Octavo (6" x 9"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth retaining original lettering pieces, raised bands, endpapers renewed. Small inkstamp to Volume I title page, interiors otherwise fresh.  $850.
* First edition. Curtis, an eminent Boston attorney, was renowned for his intellect and literary skill. Written with advice by Daniel Webster, the History offers a classic interpretation from a Federalist, Websterian viewpoint. It was one of the major works on the Constitution during the nineteenth century. Dictionary of American Biography [DAB] II:614. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 2799.

1956 Symposium on Louisiana

Gas and Petroleum Law

39. Daggett, Harriet S., Editor. Fourth Annual Institute on Mineral Law. Louisiana: Louisiana State University Press, [1956]. 179 pp. Original cloth, some shelfwear, internally clean. A nice copy of a rare title.  $25.
* A group of essays dealing with natural gas and petroleum regulation in Louisiana.

With Darrow’s Bookplate

40. [Darrow, Clarence (1857-1938)]. Hufford, David Andrew. Death Valley: Swamper Ike’s Traditional Lore: Why, When, How? Los Angeles: D.A. Hufford & Co., 1902. 43 pp. Frontispiece, plates. Octavo (5" x 7"). Thin dark-brown wood boards decorated with strips of tan snakeskin in a coil pattern, title branded to front cover with hot iron, stabbed binding tied with leather strip. Lower corner of front board cracked but holding, minor chip to rear board, front free endpaper detached, clean tear carefully mended with archival tape. Clarence Darrow’s bookplate to foot of front free endpaper, inscription above which reads: “To Clarence/ From Fran Jennie/ Christmas 1903/ Los Angeles Cal.” Unusual.  $1,000.
* Tall tales of the infamous desert in an unusual binding.
See illustration below.

42. Dartmouth College. Memorials of Judges Recently Deceased, Graduates of Dartmouth College. Concord: Printed by the Republican Press Association, 1881. vi, 139 pp. Octavo (5-1/2" x 8-3/4"). Contemporary pebbled cloth, blind frames to boards, gilt title to front. Light shelfwear, internally clean.  $75.
* Biographies of Samuel Sumner Wilde, Andrew Salter Woods, Matthew Harvey, William Henry Bartlett, Richard Fletcher, Ira Perley, Joel Parker, Isaac Fletcher Redfield and Jonas Cutting.

Valuable Source on Queen Elizabeth’s Parliaments

43. D’Ewes, Sir Simonds [1602-1650], Compiler. Bowes, Paul (d. 1702), Editor. The Journals of All the Parliaments During the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, Both of the House of Lords and House of Commons. Revised and Published by Paul Bowes, of the Middle Temple London, Esq. London: Printed for John Starkey, 1682. [12], 689, [15] pp. Splendid copperplate pictorial frontispiece of Queen Elizabeth in Parliament. Later paneled morocco, raised bands, gilt ornaments and lettering piece to spine, edges rouged, marbled endpapers. Light rubbing to extremities, corners bumped, crack between front endleaf and frontispiece, another between final index leaf and following endleaf. Woodcut decorated initials and head-piece. Some soiling to title page, spark burns to a few leaves, clean tear to another, interior otherwise fresh. Ex-library. Small location number to foot of spine, institution name faintly blindstamped to center of front board, bookplate to front pastedown, small stamps to a few leaves. An appealing copy.  $750.
* First edition. Described as “a great and very valuable work” in the Dictionary of National Biography, this remains the most valuable source on the parliaments of Elizabeth I. Sweet & Maxwell note that it “supplies a chasm in the journals of the House of Commons, published by order of parliament.” D’Ewes was an important English antiquarian. After his death his nephew, Paul Bowes, prepared the Journals for publication. DNB V:903. Sweet & Maxwell 1:130.

Crompton’s Star-Chamber Cases Bound With

Treatise on Ecclesiastical Law by Doderidge

44. Doderidge (Dodderidge), Sir John [1555-1628]. A Compleat Parson: Or a Description of Advowsons, Or Church-Living. Wherein is Set Forth, The Interests of the Parson, Patron, And Ordinary, &c. With Many Other Things Concerning the Matter, As They Were Delivered at Severall Readings at New-Inne, And Now Published for the Common Good, by W.I. London: Printed by John Grove, 1641. [viii], 96 pp.

[Bound with]

[Crompton, Richard (d. 1599)]. Star-Chamber Cases. Shewing What Causes Properly Belong to the Cognizance of That Court. Collected for the Most Part Out of Mr. Crompton His Booke, Entitled, The Jurisdiction of Divers Courts. London: Printed for John Grove, 1641. [ii], 55 pp. Quarto (5-1/2" x 6-3/4"). Contemporary calf, blind frames with large corner fleurons to boards, rebacked in period style with raised bands and lettering piece, endpapers renewed. Light rubbing to extremities with some wear to corners. Attractive woodcut head-pieces, decorated initials and printer device (on title page of second work). Occasional faint dampstaining, minor wear to margins of first few leaves, light soiling to title page, interior otherwise fresh. Ex-institution library. Small inkstamp to title page. Appealing copies of two scarce titles in a handsome binding.  $2,000.
* Second editions of works first published in 1630. Sir John Dodderidge, a judge during the reign of Charles I, was a formidably learned jurist who was both a common lawyer and a civilian who held a D.C.L. from Cambridge. Held in high esteem by Holdsworth, he is best known for English Lawyer: Describing a Method for the Managing of the Laws of this Land (1631). He may also be the actual author of William Sheppard’s The Touch-Stone of Common Assurances (1648), though this is still a matter of debate. A Compleat Parson is based on a series of lectures on ecclesiastical law delivered at New-Inn. It is a work on advowson, which is the right to appoint or nominate a person to a vacant church benefice. Crompton was a bencher of the Middle Temple during the reign of Henry VIII and the author of several important treatises, such as L’Authoritie et Iurisdiction des Courts de la Maiestie de la Roygne (1594). Derived in part from his 1594 treatise, Star-Chamber Cases is the first work devoted exclusively to that court. Active from 1487 to 1641, it was established as a court of appeal, though it also heard cases directly. A royal court, it was often used as a political weapon. By the time of Charles I it was notorious for its politically motivated rulings and draconian punishments. This lead to its abolition by Parliament. OCLC locates 2 copies of Compleat Parson, both of the 1641 edition, 19 copies of the 1641 edition of Star-Chamber Cases and 19 copies of its 1630 edition. Sweet & Maxwell 1:167 (46), 291 (6).
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Magnificent Limited Edition of the Great Domesday

45. [Domesday Book]. Great Domesday Book. London: Alecto Historical Editions, 1986-1992. Six Volumes. Two facsimile volumes, two translation volumes, maps and indexes in one matching solander box each. Folio (10-1/2" x 15-1/2"). Boxes measure 12" x 17.” Volumes one and two: period-style quarter unlettered goatskin, raised bands, over 1/2-inch thick dark oak boards. Housed in quarter black morocco over brown cloth slipcases, that of volume two includes 22 pp. prospectus volume bound in matching style, top edge gilt. Volumes three and four: bindings duplicate that of prospectus volume; Box one: 60 pp. general index in paper, thirty booklets containing specific indexes; Box two: twenty-eight full-color maps (one 21" x 25,” others 52" x 33").

[With Companion]

Domesday Book Studies. London: Alecto Historical Editions, 1987. 179 pp. Folio (11" x 15"). Quarter cloth over paper.

Together seven volumes. A magnificent set.  $5,000.
* Penny Edition limited to 250 sets. (A present-day (1982) penny and one from the Norman era are mounted in the front board of facsimile volume two.) This edition was commissioned to celebrate the 900th anniversary of the Great Domesday Book, the comprehensive census and survey of English landowners and their property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1085. It is a breathtaking work of painstaking scholarship and an example of the highest standards of typography and production. For example, the facsimile volumes use specially manufactured paper that simulates the feel of vellum. Each leaf was hand-trimmed to match the contours of the original. In addition to this, the bindings were crafted from oak boards that were cut in England during the Middle Ages. The translation used in volumes three and four, which follows the arrangement of the folios in the facsimile, is based on the Victoria Histories of the Counties of England (1900-present). The maps in box two, one of each county and one of England, indicate both Norman and present-day boundaries. Box one contains an index for each map. Domesday Book Studies, the companion volume, consists of sixteen essays and three appendixes concerning aspects of the Great Domesday and its historical context.
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46. Douglas, Charles H.J. The Financial History of Massachusetts: From the Organization of the Massachusetts Bay Company to the American Revolution. New York: The University Faculty of Political Science of Columbia College, 1891. Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, Volume 1, Number 4. 148 pp. Reprinted 2005 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New.  $65.
* Douglas divides the history of Massachusetts into two periods, each with distinct financial characteristics: “the period of her dependency on the British crown, and period of her membership in the American Union” (12). Each of these periods is divided once again, resulting in a four-part model of her financial history. Originally published in the series Studies in History, Economics and Public Law edited by the Political Science Faculty of Columbia University, this title is a valuable for its insights into the socio-economic foundations of Massachusetts society.

Scarce Anthology of Writings on

Dowries and Endowments

47. [Dowries and Endowments]. [Roman Law]. De Dote, Tractatus ex Variis Iuris Civilis Interpretibus Decerpti. His, Quae ad Dotium Pertinent Iura, & Privilegia Enucleantur. Nunc Recens Impressi, Et Exactiori Cura, Quam Alii, Recogniti, et Repurgati. Auctorum Nomina Sequens Pagina Indicabit. Cum Indice Locupletissimo Rerum Omnium Memorabilium. Venice: [Concordia], 1580. [xii], 607 pp. Main text printed in double columns. Folio (8-1/2" x 12-1/2"). Later three-quarter vellum over marbled boards, calf lettering piece to spine, pastedowns renewed, endleaves lacking. Rubbing with some wear to spine ends, board edges and lettering piece. Large woodcut printer device to title page. Some wear to edges of leaves at front and rear of text block, occasional light foxing and creases. Underlining to a few passages in early hand, interior otherwise clean.  $1,750.
* Third edition. This anthology of writings on dowries and endowments (dotation) was first published in 1569. It went through four editions, the final appearing in 1585. The authors excerpted in this anthology are Duprat Pardoux [c.1520-c.1570], Giovanni Campeggi [1438-1511], Rolando Della Valle [16th. Cent.], Odofredus, Phanuccius de Phanucciis [16th. Cent.], Antonius Guibertus Costanus [fl.1550], Iacopo Bottrigari [1274-1348], Constant Roger and Baldo Bartolini [c.1408-1490]. No copies located in North America. KVK locates 3 copies of this edition, 11 of all editions. Not in Adams or the BMC.
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48. Drinker, Henry S. A Treatise on the Interstate Commerce Act and Digest of Decisions Construing the Same. Philadelphia, George T. Bisel Company, 1909. 2 Vols. 1909. [with] Supplement to A Treatise on the Interstate Commerce Act and Digest of Decisions Construing the Same. George T. Bisel, 1910. v, 735 pp. Together three books. Contemporary tan cloth, somewhat soiled, with red and black spine lettering pieces, one label substantially chipped. Ex-library with stamps and bookplate on inside covers. Hinges cracked but secure. A sound set.  $150.
* Sole edition.

The Corn-Law Rhymer

50. Elliot, Ebenezer [1781-1849]. The Splendid Village: Corn Law Rhymes; and Other Poems. London: Benjamin Steill, 1833. 284 pp. Portrait frontispiece. 12mo. (4" x 6"). Contemporary olive green morocco, marbled boards, edges and endpapers, moderate rubbing and edgewear, gilt spine. Bookplate to front pastedown, half-title lacking, frontispiece foxed and offset onto title, interior otherwise clean and bright. Attractive.  $200.
* First edition, first issue. A popular collection of political verses critical of the aristocracy. Many of these address the Corn Laws, a series of laws enacted in the 1830s that served to maintain the price of British cereals by restricting access to less expensive imports. This put a great deal of strain on the poor, a situation that was exacerbated by a series of contemporary famines. What is more, many saw them as a device to aid and enrich the rural landholding rural aristocrat at the expense of the common man. Popular agitation against the laws helped to bring about the parliamentary Reform Bill of 1832, which introduced a measure of democracy by granting the vote to a larger share of the population.

Florentine Law, Government and Politics

53. Fierli, Gregorio. Observationes Practicae ad Curiam Florentinam Praesertim Accommodatae. Florence: Ex Typographia Bonducciana, 1796. Two volumes bound as one, each with title page and individual pagination. Octavo (4-1/2" x 7"). Contemporary three-quarter calf over marbled boards, blind ornaments and gilt fillets and title to spine, speckled edges, ribbon marker. Small early shelf label to front board, light rubbing to extremities with light wear to corners, small chip to head of spine. Light foxing in a few places, interior otherwise clean.  $450.
* Only edition. This is a treatise on Florentine law, government and politics. Fierli, a lawyer and prolific scholar, wrote treatises partnership, mortmain and other topics. 3 copies located in North American at Harvard, Duke and Southern Methodist University law libraries. KVK locates 8 copies. Not in the BMC.

Advice for Young Professionals, New York, 1791

55. Fraser, Donald. The Young Gentleman and Lady’s Assistant; Partly Original, But Chiefly Compiled From Works of The Most Celebrated Modern Authors; Calculated to Instruct Youth in the Principles of Useful Knowledge: In Five Parts, Viz. Geography, Natural-History, Elocution, Poetry,-and Miscellany. To Which is Annexed-A Short System of Practical Arithmetic; Wherin Every Example is Wrought at Large, and the Whole, Including the Money of the United States, Rendered Easy to the Meanest Capacity. This Work is Divided Into Small Sections For the Convenience of Schools. New York: Printed by Tho’s Greenleaf, 1791. xii, 273, [23] pp. Tables. 12mo. (4" x 6"). Later cloth, gilt title to spine, endpapers renewed. Lightly shelfwear and soiling. Light browning to text, some wear to edges of text block, chipping to edges of title page with minor loss to text at foot of title page. Early owner signatures to title page and following leaf, interior otherwise clean.  $500.
* First edition, later editions published in 1794 and 1796. This manual promoted a body of knowledge and social graces suitable for ambitious young citizens of the Federal Era. The subscriber list indicates a great deal of support in the legal community. Along with Vice-President Adams, Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton and Chief Justice John Jay, all attorneys, it includes Edward Livingston and thirty others who are listed as “attorneys-at-law or “counselors-at-law.” Fraser was school master in New York City. This is a notable title in the history of U.S. publishing because it was the first New York imprint to receive a copyright. OCLC locates 7 copies. Goff, “The First Decade of the Federal Act for Copyright,” in Essays Honoring Lawrence C. Wroth 103. Evans, American Bibliography 23387.

With Presentation Inscription

to Important Philosopher

57. Fuller, Lon L. [1902-1978]. Legal Fictions. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1967. viii, 142 pp. Original cloth, light shelfwear, internally clean. Inkstamp of Harvard University Gifts and Exchange Section to front pastedown, presentation inscription to W.V. Quine in bold hand to front free endpaper.  $250.
* First edition. the inscription reads: “To W.V. Quine in/ appreciation of/ assistance in/ writing the/ introduction-/ assistance which/ I hope did not/ miscarry at the/ point where I/ tried to/ apply it./ Lon L. Fuller.” This collection of three influential essays was originally published in the Illinois Law Review in 1930-31. Willard Van Orman Quine [1908-2000], a professor at Harvard University, was one of the most influential American philosophers and logicians of the twentieth century.

Scarce Eighteenth-Century Treatise on Belgian Law

60. Ghewiet, George de [1651-1745]. Institutions du Droit Belgique par Raport [sic] tant aux XVII. Provinces, qu’au Pays de Liege. Avec une Methode pour Etudier la Profession D’Avocat. Lille: De L’Imprimerie de Charles-Maurice Crame, 1736. [xvi], 597, [3], 59, [1] pp. Quarto (8-1/2" x 11"). Contemporary calf, raised bands to spine, rouged edges, marbled endpapers, backstrip lacking. Moderate rubbing, corners bumped and lightly worn. Attractive title-page device, head-pieces and tail-pieces. Early owner initials in fine hand to title page, a brief annotation to index leaf. Negligible foxing to some leaves, interior otherwise fresh. A solid copy of a scarce title.  $400.
* Second edition. Patterned after Justinian’s Institutes, Ghewiet’s treatise offers a synopsis of the law of the Belgic provinces. It was first published in 1730 and went through five editions, the final in 1758. The final chapter outlines 50 things one must do or study in order to become a lawyer. George Ghewiet was Counselor to the king of France, Honorary Referendary to the Chancellery and a member of the Parlement of Flanders. Dekkers, Bibliotheca Belgica Juridica 61 (3).
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“The Book is Rare”

62. [Great Britain]. [Law Reports].  Speciall and Selected Law-Cases, Concerning the Persons and Estates of All Men Whatsoever. Collected and Gathered out of the Reports and Year-Books of the Common-Law of England. London: Printed by M.F. and to be sold by William Cooke, 1641. [6], 303 pp. Quarto (5" x 7"). Recent period-style quarter calf over cloth, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, edges rouged, endpapers renewed. Attractive woodcut title-page device, head-pieces, tail-pieces and decorated initials. Early annotation to margin of a leaf, interior otherwise clean. A very nice copy.  $1,500.
* First edition. According to Wallace, “[t]he book is rare....[It] contains a good many MS. cases from the reign of Henry VIII. to the end of Elizabeth’s, stated pretty much in the manner in which points are stated in Fitzherbert’s Natura Brevium; but the authorities vouched are generally from the Year Books.” The cases are digested under the following heads: “Of Rents,” “Of Dower Women,” “Of Bargains and Contracts,” “Of Waste,” “Of Emblements, Corne Sowne,” “Of Property of Goods,” “Of Replevin and Second Deliverance,” “Of Attachment, And Distresse,” “Of Lands Given to Charitable Uses Good, The Statute of 2.3.H.8.,” “Actions of Detinue,” “Of Executors,” “Of Obligations, Debts,” “Of Execution” and “Of Leases, Reservations, Reentries.” A second edition was published in 1648. Little has changed since Wallace’s day; OCLC locates 1 copy of the 1641 edition at Yale Law School and 4 copies of the 1648 edition at the California State Library and the law libraries of the University of Wisconsin, the University of Chicago and Washington University, St. Louis. Another 1641 copy located at the Library of Congress. Wallace, The Reporters (1882) 282-183. Sweet & Maxwell 1:309 (122).

63. [Great Britain]. Statutes of the Realm. Printed by Command of His Majesty King George the Third. In Pursuance of an Address of the House of Commons of Great Britain. From Original Records and Authentic manuscripts. Vols. 1-9, in 10 books (1235-1713); vol. 10 Alphabetical Index; Vol. 11 Chronological Index. Together 12 books. Limited edition reprint. Buffalo: Hein & Co., 1993. New.  $2,500.
* The best and most authoritative edition of this work. Despite recognition of the need for an official edition of English statute law as early as the mid-1500’s, it was not until 1800 when a Select Committee of the House of Commons reported such a need that a Record Commission was appointed and this edition resulted. This massive set sets forth the statutes in the original language. If that language is not English, the English translation is provided in parallel columns. For a statute to appear in this edition there is “raise[d] a presumption in favour of its authority.” Holdsworth, A History of English Law, 312. A lengthy introduction examining the previous editions and describing the methodology of this edition precedes the statutes themselves. The statutes are followed by eight appendices and 20 charters (beginning with the Charter of Liberties of Henry I).

64. Grueber, Erwin. The Roman Law of Damage to Property, Being a Commentary on the Title of the Digest Ad Legem Aquiliam (IX. 2) with an Introduction to the Study of the Corpus Iuris Civilis. Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, 1886. xxv, 288 pp. Reprinted 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. Cloth. New.  $80.
* More than a commentary, this treatise is a thorough introduction to an important and influential area of Roman law. It begins with a detailed overview of the Corpus Juris Civilis. The next section is a passage-by-passage interpretation of the title “Concerning the Aquilia”