A Treatise Upon the Law of Usury and Annuities. London, 1797.
A Treatise on Usury Critical of Bentham Plowden, Francis [1749-1829]. A Treatise Upon the Law of Usury and Annuities. London: Printed for J. Butterworth, Fleet-Street, 1797. [ii], xx, 570 pp. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5-1/4"). Contemporary calf, rebacked in period style, blind fillets, retained contemporary letting piece and gilt publication date to spine, endpapers renewed. Light rubbing and a few shallow scuffs to boards, moderate rubbing to board edges, corners bumped and somewhat worn, some wear to edges of lettering piece, front joint starting at head, partial crack to text block between pp. 566 and 567. Light toning to interior, faint soiling to title page and margins of a few leaves. $1,500. * Only edition. Holdsworth says this a "very good book" notable for its criticism of "the ingenious Mr. Bentham." Plowden notes that annuities had been used to evade usury laws and offers similar conclusions about stock transactions for time and stock jobbing. This is a rare title. OCLC locates 2 copies in North America, none in law libraries; the ESTC locates 10, 3 in law libraries (Harvard, UCLA, York). Holdsworth, A History of English Law XII:397-398. English Short-Title Catalogue (ESTC) T112869.
Price: $1,500.00
Book number 74424