System of Penal Law, Prepared for the State of Louisiana...
First Issue of Livingston's Louisiana Penal Code Livingston, Edward [1764-1836]. System of Penal Law, Prepared for the State of Louisiana: Comprising Codes of Offenses and Punishments, Of Procedure, Of Prison Discipline, And of Evidence Applicable as Well to Civil as to Criminal Cases. And a Book, Containing Definitions of All the Technical Words Used in This System. New Orleans: Benjamin Levy & Co., 1824. 164 pp. (12-1/4" x 7-1/2"). Recent period-style quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt title and date to spine. Light toning to text, negligible light foxing in a few places. $3,000. * First edition, first issue. Livingston's Penal Code marked an epoch in the broad international movement for penal reform. Profoundly influenced by Bentham, it stressed prevention over vengeance. Never enacted, it nevertheless established itself as one of the great standards for other reformers. Hicks marvels at the scope and clear organization of this code and notes that Bentham, Hugo, Lafayette, Story, Marshall, Madison, Kent and Jefferson considered it "the most comprehensive and enlightened system of criminal law that has ever been presented to the world.": Hicks, Men and Books Famous in the Law 180. Jumonville, Bibliography of New Orleans Imprints 430. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 10329.
Price: $3,000.00
Book number 66595