English-Law: Or, A Summary Survey of the Household of God on Earth...
With "An Essay on Christian Government" [Cock, Charles George]. English-Law: Or, A Summary Survey of the Household of God on Earth; And that Both Before and Under the Law; And that Both of Moses and the Lord Jesus. Historically Opening the Purity and Apostacy of Believers in the Successions of Ages, To this Present. Together with an Essay of Christian Government Under the Regiment of our Lord and King, The One Immortal, Invisible, Infinite, Eternal, Universal Prince, The Prince of Peace, Emmanuel. London: Printed by Robert White for T.G. And Francis Tyton, 1651. [xx], 95, [1]; [17], 101-194, [2] pp. "An Essay on Christian Government" has separate dated title page. Pagination irregular, text complete. Folio (11" x 6-1/2"). Recent period-style calf, blind rules to boards, raised bands, blind fillets and lettering piece to spine, edges rouged, endpapers renewed. Moderate toning to interior, light browning to edges of text block, light foxing in places, moderate edgewear to preliminaries and final few leaves. Recent owner inscription to front free endpaper, early owner annotations to title page and a few other leaves, faint, often very faint, recent marks in pencil and colored pencil to margins of several leaves. $4,500. * Only edition. Cock's treatise is a characteristic and exceptionally detailed exposition of an important strain of Puritan thought during the Commonwealth era, namely that English law and government should be reformed along biblical lines, a belief shared by the New England Puritans. This core of the book's argument is encapsulated by its title vignette of a ship, representing the Commonwealth, in a storm-tossed sea. It will be saved because it has cast off the anchor decorated with crowns and scepters, that is, monarchy, and fastened itself to an anchor secured by the clouds with the caption "only by faith." This is a scarce title. It has appeared only three times at auction since 1939. The early annotations, in Latin and English, are quotations from Lucius, Plato and the Bible. (One quote, which we can't identify, appears to be a paraphrase of Proverbs 13.) Combined, the ESTC and OCLC locate 16 copies, 8 in North America, 4 in North American law libraries (Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard, UC-Berkeley). English Short-Title Catalogue (ESTC) R37185.
Price: $4,500.00
Book number 74604