The Security of Englishmen's Lives, Or the Trust, Power and Duty...
The Priority of the Law Over the Crown Somers, John, Baron [1651-1716]. The Security of Englishmen's Lives: Or the Trust, Power, And Duty of the Grand Juries of England Explained, According to the Fundamentals of the English Government, And the Declaration of the Same Made in Parliament by Many Statutes. First Printed in the Year 1681. A New Edition. London: Printed for J. Almon, 1771. 103, [1] pp. Leaves K1 and K2 (pp. 73-76) bound out of order. Publisher advertisement to verso of final leaf. Octavo (8" x 5"). Disbound stab-stitched pamphlet. Light toning, negligible light soiling to exterior. $350. * Later edition. This influential pamphlet defined a hearing before a grand jury of peers as a fundamental English right. An assertion of the priority of the law over the English crown, it was written to support the right of a grand jury to reject the bill of indictment against Anthony Ashley-Cooper, First Earl of Shaftesbury, issued by Charles II. Somers, a barrister of the Middle Temple and an important Whig statesman, was Lord Chancellor of England during the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne. He presided over the framing of the Bill of Rights (1689). English Short-Title Catalogue T61422.
Price: $350.00
Book number 72688