The Tradesman's Lawyer and Countrey-Man's Friend... London, 1703.
A Superb First-Edition of The Tradesman's Lawyer [Layman's Guide]. The Tradesman's Lawyer and Countrey-Man's Friend. 1. Directing Them in Contracts, Bargains and Agreements, Whereby They May Learn to Buy and Contract Safely, And Cautiously Avoid Being Over-Reached in Their Bargains, &c. 2. Concerning Borrowing, Lending and Restoring, And of Goods Pledged and Pawned. 3. Setting Forth Several Other Adjudged Cases Relating to Tradesmen, &c. 4. Cases Relating to Farmers, And Concerning Stoppage of Ways, Watercourses, Lights, Commons, and Several Other Nusances. 5. Concerning Scandalous Words Purposely Spoken to Prejudice and Abuse Tradesmen, &c. 6. Concerning Leases, Mortgages, Corn, Waste, Distresses, &c. Also Many Other Matters Relating to Landlord and Tenant. 7. Concerning Discharging and Ending of Actions, Suits, and Controversies, And Therein Largely Concerning Arbitrements, Awards and Umpirage, With All Their Circumstances. 8. Certain Statute Laws, Concerning Labourers, Tradesmen, Artificers, Apprentices, Servants, Petty Chapmen, &c. Collected from the Antient and Modern Law Books, And Confirmed by Several Authorities, And Therefore May be Useful as Well to the Professors of the Law, As to Tradesmen and Others. London: Printed by the Assigns of Richard and Edward Atkins Esqs., 1703. [viii], 424 pp. Octavo (6-1/2" x 4-1/4"). Contemporary calf, blind rules to boards, blind fillets along joints, raised bands and early hand-lettered title to spine, gilt tooling to board edges. Negligible light rubbing and a few minor nicks to boards, corners lightly bumped, rear hinge cracked. Light toning to text, slightly heavier in places, tiny worm track near upper corners of final four text leaves, rear free endpaper and rear pastedown, early owner annotation to pp. 10 and 34 and rear free endpaper. Book housed in a cloth clamshell box, quarter morocco over cloth, gilt title and gilt-edged raised bands to spine. A notably well-preserved copy of a rare title. $5,000. * First edition. An early form of "consumer protection," this book was written to protect members of the middle ranks of English society from the "cunning" of "persons of a higher Rank," who always enjoyed the "Learning and Leisure to read the Law." Two later editions were published in 1709 and 1720 with the title Gentleman's Assistant, Tradesman's Lawyer and Country-.
Price: $5,000.00
Book number 70828