The Rights of Juries Defended, Together with Authorities of Law...
Two Cornerstones of English Liberty Stanhope, Charles, Earl [1753-1816]. The Rights of Juries Defended, Together with Authorities of Law in Support of Those Rights. And the Objections to Mr. Fox's Libel Bill Refuted. London: Printed by George Stafford, For P. Elmsly, 1792. Octavo. [iv], 164 pp. Complete with half-title. (8-1/2" x 5-1/4"; 21.6 x 13.3 cm). Modern full paneled tan calf, spines with two contrasting gilt-lettered morocco labels. Armorial bookplate of Hugh Cecil, Earl of Lonsdale, to the front pastedown. Interior leaves crisp and clean. A very good, handsomely bound copy. $1,500. * First and only edition of this spirited defense of British civil liberties, carrying profound transatlantic legal significance. Published at the absolute peak of state panic surrounding the French Revolution, this pivotal tract addresses the acute threats posed to trial by jury and freedom of the press by contemporary seditious libel prosecutions. Written specifically to support Charles James Fox's historic Libel Bill of 1792, Stanhope directly challenges the judicial status quo of the era, wherein crown-appointed judges reserved the right to determine whether a text was legally libelous-leaving juries with the hollow task of merely confirming the physical fact of publication. Stanhope heavily relies on Thomas Erskine's landmark defense of William Shipley (the Dean of St. Asaph) to argue that a jury must possess the power to return a general verdict on the whole matter at issue. This core legal argument-that juries have the right to determine both the law and the facts-shared a direct philosophical bond with the American Founding generation. During the Early Republic, American legal architects heavily integrated these exact English common-law defense models into the fabric of the Sixth Amendment and early state constitutions. Furthermore, the author himself was highly regarded across the Atlantic; as a Member of Parliament, Stanhope had fiercely opposed Great Britain's war against the American Colonies, cementing his reputation as a staunch ally to the nascent United States. His enduring impact on American intellectual life was formally recognized later in life when he was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1816. By advocating for a legal shift that foreshadowed both England's dramatic 1794 Treason Trials and the.
Price: $1,500.00
Book number 86838