An Act for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors Now in Confinement.
A 1710 Irish Act to Relieve Insolvent Debtors [Ireland]. [Insolvency]. Anne I [1665-1714], Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. An Act for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors Now in Confinement. Dublin: Printed by Andrew Crooke, Printer to the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, In Copper-Alley, 1710. [ii], 57-66 pp. Folio (11" x 7"; 28 x 18 cm). Disbound, light toning, light foxing to title page and following leaf, small worm hole through text near center of gutter, final leaf partially detached but secure. A very copy overall. $250. * Only edition. Like its English counterparts from the era, this 1710 Act of the Irish Parliament (9 Anne c. 10) provided a statutory lifeline to individuals imprisoned for debt, many due to losses from the Williamite War [1681-1691], which destroyed the forces of James II and established the Protestant Ascendency. Acts such as this one were passed periodically to alleviate extreme prison overcrowding, show compassion toward debtors whose insolvency was the result of "Losses and other Misfortunes" rather than criminal intent and to prevent them from becoming a burden on the state. The legislation is anchored in a critical 18th-century distinction between "honest" debtors-those willing to surrender all assets to satisfy creditors, and fraudulent debtors who attempted to conceal property. To qualify for relief under this Act, prisoners were required to provide a "Schedule of Assets" under oath. This model remained an ad hoc legal remedy until the formal creation of the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors in 1813. (Ireland was incorporated into Great Britain to form the United Kingdom in 1801.) English Short-Title Catalogue N476550.
Price: $250.00
Book number 85639