A Charge to the Grand Jury of the City and Liberty of Westminster, &c.
The Nature of Treason and Other Crimes Gonson, Sir John [d. 1765]. A Charge to the Grand Jury of the City and Liberty of Westminster, &c. At the General Quarter-Sessions of the Peace, Held the Third Day of July, 1729, In Westminster-Hall. Printed at the Desire of the Justices of the Peace, For the Said City and Liberty, And of the Grand Jury. London: Printed by Charles Ackers, 1729. [iv], 32 pp. Octavo (7" x 4-1/4"). Stab-stitched pamphlet bound in recent quarter calf over marbled boards, lettering piece to spine, endleaves added. Light rubbing to boards and extremities, moderate toning to interior, light browningto title page, faint dampstaining to endleaves. $450. * Only edition, one of two issues, both in 1729. Often issued by the chairmen of the Quarter Sessions, grand jury charges of this period were a useful vehicle for the judge's social, moral and political views. Gonson, a judge and enthusiastic moral reformer commemorated in Hogarth's A Harlot's Progress (1731) and Pope's An Essay on Man (1733), frequently took advantage of this platform. This charge was given to a recently empaneled jury. It stresses the importance of juries and discusses the crimes in cases this jury will hear, among them treason and burglary. Both issues of this charge are rare. OCLC locates 2 copies of our issue in North American law libraries (Harvard, University of Pennsylvania). English Short-Title Catalogue T59619.
Price: $450.00
Book number 75168