De Legibus & Consuetudinibus Angliae, Libri Quinq; In Varios...
"The Crown and Flower of English Medieval Jurisprudence" Bracton, Henry de [d. 1268]. De Legibus & Consuetudinibus Angliae, Libri Quinq; In Varios Tractatus Distincti, ad Diversorum et Vetustissimorum Codicum Collationem, Ingenti Cura, Nunc Primu[m] Typis Vulgati; Quorum Quid Cuiq; Insit, Proxima Pagina Demonstrabit. London: Apud Richardum Tottellum, An. do. 1569. With imprimatur "Cum priuilegio" at foot of title. [xvi], 172, 175-444 ff. Complete. Folio (11-1/4" x 7-3/4"; 28.6 x 19.7 cm). Nineteenth-century diced calf, gilt rules to boards, gilt fillets, ornaments and title to spine, gilt rules to board edges, gilt inside rules, marbled endpapers, ribbon marker. Light rubbing to boards, faint dampstain to front board, moderate rubbing to extremities, front joint starting at head, rear joint cracked, corners bumped and somewhat worn, armorial bookplate, "Ex Libris Munden," to front pastedown. Attractive large woodcut decorated initials. Light toning to text, somewhat heavier in places, light foxing and finger smudges to some leaves, some fading to text of ff. 1 and 2. A handsome copy of a landmark work with an interesting provenance perserved in a navy blue morocco clamshell box. $13,000. **THIS DESCRIPTION IS TRUNCATED DUE TO CHARACTER LIMITS. PLEASE CONTACT US FOR A COMPLETE VERSION.** * First editon. Written between 1250 and 1256, De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae (On the Laws and Customs of England) is the twin peak of early English legal literature alongside Glanvill, and stands as the first genuinely systematic treatise on English common law. Bracton's monumental work modeled English law as a cohesive, rational science by masterfully weaving together local customary law with the structured principles of Roman and Canon law. The treatise introduces a sophisticated division between procedural and substantive law. Crucially, it popularized the practice of citing actual cases to illuminate legal principles-laying the conceptual groundwork for the modern doctrine of stare decisis (precedent). Bracton's methodology profoundly shaped the evolution of the common law, directly inspiring the subsequent foundational works of Littleton, Fitzherbert, and Sir Edward Coke. As the great legal historian F.W. Maitland famously observed, De Legibus is "the crown and flower of English medieval jurispruden.
Price: $13,000.00
Book number 67367