A Treatise on Courts Martial. To Which is Added, An Essay on Military
The First Anglo-American Treatise on Courts-Martial Adye, Stephen Payne [d.1794]. A Treatise on Courts Martial To Which is Added, An Essay on Military Punishments and Rewards. London: Printed for J. Murray, 1786. viii, 284, [4] pp. Includes four-page publisher catalogue. Octavo (7-1/4" x 4-1/2"). Contemporary tree calf, lettering piece and gilt fillets to spine, blind tooling to board edges. A few minor nicks and scuffs to boards, corners bumped, light creasing to spine, light wear to spine ends, joints starting, armorial bookplate of William Blacker to front pastedown. Light toning to interior, "Wm Blacker Armagh Regt., his gift of Henry Blacker 62nd Regt" to head of title page. An attractive copy of a scarce title. $1,750. * Reissue of the third edition, which was published by Murray in 1785 (with an identical format and pagination). First published in New York in 1769, this title was the first Anglo-American treatise on courts-martial (and the 1769 edition was one of the first law books printed in America). It was the standard guide used by the British and American forces during the Revolutionary War. A standard treatise for many years, and an authority today, it went through eight editions, the final in 1810. The third edition is a much-expanded version of its predecessor. Adye was Deputy Judge Advocate for the British Army in North America from 1769 to 1783. William and Henry Blacker, brothers, were stationed in America. Henry served in the Northern Campaign of 1777 and surrendered with the rest of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga on October 17, 1777. He remained in captivity with the rest of his regiment until the end of the war. OCLC locates 11 copies of this reissue in North America, 5 in law libraries (Columbia, Harvard, Howard, Library of Congress, Thurgood Marshall State Law Library, Annapolis, MD). Wiener, Civilians Under Military Justice 182-188. English Short-Title Catalogue N47734.
Price: $1,750.00
Book number 73220