The Elements of the Common Lawes of England...
Bacon, Sir Francis [1561-1626]. The Elements of the Common Laws of England, Branched into a Double Tract: The One Contayning A Collection of Some Principal Rules and Maxims of the Common Law, With Their Latitude and Extent. Explicated for the More Facile Introduction of Such as are Studiously Addicted to That Noble Profession. [With] The Use of the Law, for the Preservation of our Persons, Goods, and Good Names. According to the Laws and Customs of this Land. London: Printed by the Assignes of I. More Esq., 1630. Reprint. New York: The Legal Classics Library, 1997. xix, 104; vii, 84 pp. Calf, decorative gilt stamping, raised bands, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, ribbon marker. Bookplate on front pastedown, else fine. $40. * The Elements of the Common Laws of England is remarkable for its stylistic vigor, intellectual rigor, meticulousness and clarity. It was the first part of De Regulis Juris, a codification of English law that Bacon never completed. This is quite unfortunate, observes Holdsworth, because "he alone had the philosophical capacity, the historical knowledge and the literary taste needed to select the subject matter and shape the form of the books. (...) [Had he completed the book] there would be many who would question whether, as a lawyer, he was not Coke's superior." The second treatise is a review of the history and practical application of criminal law, estate law, personal property law and the law of slander (i.e. "the preservation of our good names from shame and infamy").
Price: $40.00
Book number 75338