The Statutes at Large, 37 Volumes in 39 Books, Macclesfield Library...
The Notably Handsome Macclesfield Library Set Pickering, Danby, Compiler. The Statutes at Large, From Magna Charta To the End of the Eleventh Parliament of Great Britain, Anno 1761. Carefully Collated and Revised, With References, A Preface, And a New and Accurate Index to the Whole. Cambridge: Printed by Joseph Bentham; for Charles Bathurst, London, 1762-1769. 24 volumes, numbered 1-24, final volume and index. Complete set. [With] [Continuation Volumes Through 1792]. Cambridge, Printed by Joseph Bentham, Printer to the University; for Charles Bathurst, London [imprint varies], 1762-1792. 15 volumes, numbered 25-37, of a 24-volume set, its final volume (46) issued in 1807. Contemporary calf, blind rules to spines, blind fillets along joints, raised bands and lettering pieces to spines, gilt or blind tooling to board edges. Light rubbing to extremities, minor nicks, scuffs and minor stains to some volumes, minor worming to Volume 13, mostly at rear of text, with no loss to legibility. Armorial Macclesfield bookplate to front pastedowns, small embossed Macclesfield stamps to title page or half-title, shelf number in pencil to front or rear endleaves, interiors notably fresh. $7,500. * Only editions. This is a notably handsome copy one of the pre-eminent 18th-century printings of the Statutes at Large with a notable provenance: the library of the Earls of Macclesfield at Shirbirn Castle, one of the finest private libraries in Great Britain. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine a more desirable set. The library was established in the early eighteenth century by Thomas Parker, the first Earl of Macclesfield. A hugely successful lawyer and Whig MP, Parker became Lord Chief Justice of England in 1710 and, in 1718, Lord Chancellor. Unfortunately, his meteoric rise was countered by an equally rapid fall in 1725 when he was impeached and found guilty of financial irregularities as Lord Chancellor. It is not surprising that this library included a set of Pickering's edition of the Statutes at Large. Pickering dedicated his work to Charles Yorke, then the recently appointed Attorney General and the second son of Philip Yorke, the great Lord Chancellor whose career flourished due to his friendship with Macclesfield. The friendship appears to have begun with their introduction through Lord Macclesfield's nephew,
Price: $7,500.00
Book number 72351