An Analysis of Criminal Law by David B. Johnson Esq. Atty at Law...
An Original "Analysis of Criminal Law" by an Eminent 19th-Century District Attorney from Upstate New York [Manuscript]. Johnson, David B. An Analysis of Criminal Law by David B. Johnson Esq. Atty & Counsellor at Law & District Attny in & for the County of Madison N.Y. [Cazenovia, NY, after 1824]. [ii (title page)], 140, [1], [12 (index)] pp. Quarto (9-3/4" x 8"; 24.5 x 20.5 cm). Contemporary quarter sheep over marbled boards, blank interior with manuscript text in single neat hand. Exterior worn, boards separated (secured by cords) and spine largely abraded. Moderate toning to interior, occasional sparse light foxing, first 2 ff. of index detached and lightly edgeworn. Overall good with legible and well-organized text. $1,500. * David B. Johnson was a reputable and experienced attorney practicing in Cazenovia, New York in the early 19th century. He was Master and Examiner in Chancery as well as District Attorney for Madison County; he also served as secretary of the Cazenovia Seminary's board of trustees and performed legal work for the seminary from time to time. A Latin quotation on the title page alludes to Coke's famous maxim that 'law is the perfection of reason,' paraphrased from a passage in the First Institutes. Johnson's other sources include English classics, such as Blackstone's Commentaries or Hale's History of the Pleas of the Crown, and American titles, like Samuel March Phillips's Treatise on the Law of Evidence. Reporters similarly encompass both English common laws and American cases, reflecting the contemporary shift to a distinctly American jurisprudence rooted in the English tradition. The fair-copy manuscript is organized topically, listing the applicable legal principles and their corresponding citations. The wide range of topics includes treason, "stabing," lewdness, "malicious mischief," "diseases infectious," domestic relations and "outlawry." More than a prosecutor's working reference, it is a fascinating resource for those interested in 19th-century American legal practice and the sources and precedents lawyers relied on in that period.
Price: $1,500.00
Book number 85964