The Question Concerning Impositions, Tonnage, Poundage, Prizage...
Written by a Respected Elizabethan Jurist and Produced by a Female Printer Davies, Sir John [1569-1626]. The Question Concerning Impositions, Tonnage, Poundage, Prizage, Customs, &c. Fully Stated and Argued, From Reason, Law, And Policy. Dedicated to King James in the Latter End of His Reign. By Sir John Davies, His then Majesties Attourney Generall. London: Printed by S[arah] G[riffin] for Henry Twyford, In Vine-Court Middle Temple, And Rich: Marriot, Under the Dyall in Saint Dunstans Church-Yard, 1656. [xvi], 166, [2] pp. Publisher advertisements to final leaf. Octavo (6-1/2" x 4"; 10.2 x 16.3 cm). Recent quarter morocco over marbled boards, gilt title to spine, endleaves renewed. Light rubbing to joints, negligible light fading to spine, small circular shelf label to front free endpaper. Moderate toning to interior, negligible light foxing and faint dampstaining to edges of a few leaves, some offsetting to final leaf and title page, which is lightly edgeworn. A good copy. $650. * First edition. Davies, or Davys, was a highly respected lawyer, poet and politician. A favorite of Queen Elizabeth and later King James, he held several Irish offices, culminating in the position of attorney-general. His reports and other works were well-regarded and played an important role in the development of British colonial legal policy. The present work deals with royal prerogative in matters of taxation. It was reissued under a different title in 1659. A member of a venerable family of printers, Sarah Griffin [b.1595?] inherited her husband Edward's printing house on his death in 1652 and was active until 1673. (This was the second time the business had been transferred from a husband to his widow; Edward had inherited the business from his mother Anne, who took it over after his father's death.) Smith, "Griffin, Anne," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (accessed online). English Short-Title Catalogue R1608.
Price: $650.00
Book number 84850