The Duke of Newcastle's Letter, By His Majesty's Order, to Monsieur...
A Significant Report in the History of Prize Law [Great Britain]. [Prize Law]. The Duke of Newcastle's Letter, By His Majesty's Order, to Monsieur Michell, The King of Prussia's Secretary of the Embassy, In Answer to the Memorial, And Other Papers, Deliver'd, By Monsieur Michell, To the Duke of Newcastle, On the 23d of November, and 13th of December Last. Published by Authority. London: Printed by Edward Owen, 1753. 46 pp. With two folding tables, one a list of Prussian ships taken by the British, the other a list of neutral ships taken by the British. Quarto (10" x 7-3/4"). Recent marbled boards, lettering piece to spine, edges rouged, endpapers added. Light rubbing to spine ends and joints, negligible light rubbing to board edges. Light toning to interior, light foxing to a few leaves, leaf M1 (pp. 43-44) reinforced at gutter, slight creasing to first folding table, very small tear to its left edge. An attractive copy. $450. * One of three 1753 London editions for which priority has not been established. In the course of the War of the Austrian Succession, Britain seized several Prussian merchant ships on the grounds that they were carrying enemy property. English admiralty courts partially restored the ships and goods but declared the rest legitimate prize. The King of Prussia, dissatisfied with this outcome, had the British admiralty cases rejudged by a Prussian commission; when the commission found the British ruling illegitimate, Prussia prepared to economically retaliate. This report was commissioned in response to the situation. Described as "one of the ablest, clearest, and most conclusive state papers that has ever been published" and "characterised by Montesquieu as a reponse sans replique," it "completely annihilates every statement and pretence by which the Prussian Government attempted to justify their proceedings" (McCulloch). A significant work in the history of prize law, it established the principle that enemy goods can be seized on neutral vessels. McCulloch, The Literature of Political Economy 117. English Short-Title Catalogue T4125 (State 2).
Price: $450.00
Book number 75201