Falstaff and Equity: An Interpretation.
Phelps, Charles E. Falstaff and Equity: An Interpretation. Union, New Jersey: The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd., 2004. Octavo. (9" x 6"; 22.86 x 15.24 cm). xvi, 201 pp. Facsimile reprint of the original 1902 Boston edition published by Houghton, Mifflin and Company. Publisher's original green smyth-sewn cloth, gilt-stamped spine and front cover. ISBN-13: 9781584772309. New. $29.95 * A vital text examining the intersection of Shakespearean drama and Elizabethan legal warfare. Written by Judge Charles E. Phelps of the Supreme Bench of Baltimore, this study argues that Falstaff's famous line in Henry IV, Part 1 ("there's no equity stirring") was not a generic plea for justice, but a highly topical joke. Phelps contextualizes the play within the fierce, real-world jurisdictional battle fought between the English common law courts and the Court of Chancery (Equity) from 1596 to 1597. The work remains highly significant to the "Law and Literature" movement and serves as a key text in debates surrounding Shakespeare's sophisticated insider knowledge of English law. "Judge Phelps of Baltimore has done a very pretty piece of legal and literary work in this volume... It turns out that equity was stirring very much in 1596-7." - F.P., Law Quarterly Review 17:322-323. References: Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University (1953) 1143.
Price: $29.95
Book number 33682