On the Administration of Criminal Justice in England; And the Spirit..
Cottu's Classic Work on the English Criminal Courts, A Copy Owned by an Important Canadian Jurist and Politician Cottu, [Charles] [b.1777?]. On the Administration of Criminal Justice in England; And the Spirit of the English Government. London: Printed for R. Stevens and Charles Reader, 1822. xii, 312 pp. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5"). Contemporary three-quarter calf over marbled boards, blind rules to calf edges, blind fillets and lettering piece to spine. Light rubbing, faint offsetting and a few small scuffs, scratches and stains to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities, chipping to spine ends with large chip to head of spine, front board separating but secured by cords, rear joint starting at head, corners bumped and somewhat worn, faint offsetting to endleaves, armorial bookplate (of Sir James Stuart) to front pastedown and ownership signature ("J. Stuart") to title page. Light toning to interior, light foxing and soiling in a few places, a few folded corners, slight crease to lower corner of first several leaves, small tear to lower gutter of leaf U8 (pp. 303-304) without loss to text. $450. * Only English edition, a translation of the only French edition which appeared in 1822. (An earlier version appeared in the periodical The Pamphleteer in 1820 under the title On the Administration of the Criminal Code in England.) Cottu was a counselor of the Royal Court of Paris and Secretary-General to the Royal Society of Prisons. In 1820 he was sent by his government to observe the English criminal courts. He returned with a vivid description of a system that had changed little since the days of Coke and Pulton. As Langbein describes it, "the whole of the criminal trial was expected to transpire as a lawyer-free contest of amateurs. In cases of felony..., the prosecution was also not represented by counsel. The victim of the crime commonly served as the prosecutor. (In homicide cases, either the victim's kin prosecuted, or the local coroner stood in.)" Just as Blackstone summarized the common law on the cusp of its transformation by modern capitalism, Cottu described a system of criminal procedure that was about to be transformed into the system we recognize today. Born in New York, Sir James Stuart [1780-1853] was a Canadian jurist and politician. A controversial and often combative figure, he was active in the process of un.
Price: $450.00
Book number 73690