Littletons Tenures in English, Lately Perused and Amended.
Littleton's Tenures in English From the Library of 17th Century Public Notary, John Blome (1593-1649) of Sevenoaks, Kent Littleton, Sir Thomas [1402-1481]. Littletons Tenures in English, Lately Perused and Amended. London: Printed for the Companie of Stationers, 1621. 142, [2] ff. Octavo (5-1/2" x 3-1/2"; "; 14 x 8.9 cm). Modern period-style calf, blind rules to boards, raised bands, blind ornaments and lettering piece to spine, edges rouged, endpapers renewed. Moderate toning, light browning to margins, early marginalia to several leaves, soiling, some edgewear and owner inscription "John Blome / 20 August 1649 / purch[as]ed 16," to title page. A very good copy with an interesting provenance. $750. * Early seventeenth-century edition. Written during the reign of Edward IV [1442-1483] and first published around 1481, Littleton's Tenures is probably the most revered treatise in the history of the common law. Much admired for its learning and style, it is concerned with tenures and other issues relating to real property. This venerable work, which Coke called "the ornament of the Common Law, and the most perfect and absolute work that ever was written in any humane science," is considered a landmark because it renounced the principles of Roman law (and Latin) in favor of guidelines and doctrines drawn from the Year Books and, when necessary, hypothetical cases. The first dated English translation was published in 1538. The title-page bears the ownership inscription "John Blome / 20 August 1649", with his acquisition price noted below. This is very likely the early seventeenth-century public notary John Blome (1593-1649) of Sevenoaks, Kent, who was also a member of Clifford's Inn, an Inn of Chancery in London. In the latter part of his life, he moved to Abergwili, a small village in Carmarthenshire, Wales. OCLC locates 6 copies worldwide of the 1621 edition, and 3 in law libraries (Yale, University of Pennsylvania, University of Texas). Holdsworth, A History of English Law II:573. English Short-Title Catalogue S895.
Price: $750.00
Book number 69107