An Historical and Political Discourse of the Laws and Government...
Selden's Historical Discourse Selden, John [1584-1654] Bacon, Nathaniel [1593-1660], Editor, Attributed Author. An Historical and Political Discourse of the Laws and Government of England, From the First Times to the End of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. With a Vindication of the Antient Way of Parliaments in England. Collected from Some Manuscript Notes of John Selden, Esq; By Nathaniel Bacon, Of Grays Inn, Esq; Corrected and Improved by a Gentleman of the Middle-Temple. London: Printed for D. Browne and A. Millar, 1760. [iv], viii, xiii-xix, 203, [1]; xii, 178, [8] pp. Complete. Quarto (11-1/4" x 9-1/4"). Contemporary speckled calf, raised bands to spine, gilt fillets to boards, gilt-stamped title on spine rubbed away. Light rubbing and a few minor nicks and scuffs to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities, joints and front hinge cracked, negligible light gatoring to spine, some chipping to spine ends, corners bumped and somewhat worn, early armorial bookplate to front pastedown. Moderate toning to text, occasional light browning to outer edges of margins. $500. * Fifth and final edition. Often attributed to Bacon, the Historical Discourse "is a sort of constitutional history of England, showing much knowledge of the development of the institutions, civil and ecclesiastical, and pervaded by a strong spirit of hostility to the claims of the royal prerogative and to hierarchical pretensions." (DNB). "The first edition having become so rare a second edition was secretly printed in 1672 which was suppressed. It was again secretly reprinted in 1682 and the publishers were prosecuted. The 1682 edition appears to have been reissued in 1689 with the 1682 imprint" (Sweet & Maxwell). Dictionary of National Biography I:836-837. Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth 1:99 (9). English Short-Title Catalogue T108171.
Price: $500.00
Book number 67966