Englands Wants: Or Several Proposals Probably Beneficial for England.
A Visionary 17th-Century Blueprint for English Legal Reform, Finely Bound in Period-Style Calf [Chamberlayne, Edward (1616-1703)]. Englands Wants: Or, Several Proposals Probably Beneficial for England, Humbly Offered to the Consideration of All Good Patriots in Both Houses of Parliament. By the Author of The Present State of England. London: Printed for, And Are to be Sold By, Randal Taylor, 1685. 38 pp. Quarto (7-1/4" x 5-1/4"). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound into recent period-style three-quarter calf over marbled boards by Philip Dusel, raised bands and lettering piece to spine. Light browning to interior, head of text block trimmed with minor loss to head of title page and occasional loss to headlines. A crisp, well-margined copy of a significant economic and legal treatise. $650. * Second edition. * Second edition. In this influential Restoration-era pamphlet, first published 1667, Chamberlayne-a distinguished diplomat and scholar holding doctorates from both Oxford and Cambridge-outlines seventy-five ambitious proposals to revitalize the English state. While focused heavily on property law and legal efficiency, the "Wants" also touch on public welfare, trade, and education, reflecting the intellectual ferment of late 17th-century political thought. Chamberlayne is perhaps best remembered for his definitive Angliae Notitia (The Present State of England), and this work serves as the proactive, reformist companion to that famous descriptive text. Goldsmiths' Library of Economic Literature 2590.
Price: $650.00
Book number 72500