[Rarebooks] A Selection of Lawbook Exchange Titles (With Digital Images)

Mon Aug 30 16:35:19 EDT 2004

Monday, August 30, 2004, 4:34 PM:

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1.      Handsome Blackstone Edition of the Magna Carta
Blackstone, Sir William [1723-1780]. The Great Charter and Charter of
the Forest, With Other Authentic Instruments: To Which is Prefixed an
Introductory Discourse, Containing the History of the Charters.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1759. [iv], lxxvi, [iv], 86 pp. Half title
and table of contents (Tabula) bound between pages lxxvi and 1. Folio
(10-1/2" x 13-1/2"). Full calf, rebacked, moderate shelfwear, joints
reinforced, endpapers renewed. Printed on heavy wide-margined paper
with engraved dedication leaf, decorated initials and tail-pieces.
Chipping to edges of title page and a few leaves, browning to fore-
edges of most leaves. Still a handsome copy. $2,500.
* First edition. Texts of documents in Latin, Blackstone's essay in
English. The engraved dedication to the Earl of Westmoreland is
surmounted with his armorial ensigns; initials in the text are
ornamented with engravings of various buildings at Oxford University.
The tail pieces on pages lxxvi and 73 are historical vignettes; the
other ten tail-pieces are facsimiles of the royal seals that are
attached to the original documents.
     This remarkable work is highly esteemed for its production and
scholarship. Its physical appeal was recognized as early as 1829 in
Richard Thompson's An Historical Essay on the Magna Charta of King
John, which described it as a "beautiful and rare edition."
Blackstone's essay, which is based on a great deal of original
research, argued that the charter was the foundation of English
liberties. This idea, first proposed by Coke, was a central tenet of
Whig ideology. More important, Blackstone's research into the
original texts demonstrated that all earlier editions of the charter
were based on Henry III's significantly different reissue of 1225
rather than the original one endorsed at Runnymede. His philological
approach was highly influential; it established the textual focus that
has governed subsequent study of the charter.  Scarce. (Eller notes
that Worrall's Bibliotheca Legum Angliae (1788) lists an edition from
1758 with the title Magna Charta and Charta de Foresta. She was not
able to locate any copies, however. Later research indicates that this
edition is a ghost.) Eller, The William Blackstone Collection in the
Yale Law Library 237. Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law
School I:191. British Museum Catalogue (Compact Edition) 3:562.
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2.       1627 Treatise Dealing With Administration and Billing
Escobar, Francisco Munez de [fl. 1618]. De Ratiociniis Administratorum
et Computationibus Variis Aliis. Tractatus Praegnantissimus. Omnibus
Iuri Operam Dantibus, Tam in Theorica, Quam Praxiutilis, Iudicibus, &
Advocatis Peinecessarius. Turin: Apud H.H. Io. Dominici Tarini, 1627.
[viii], 352, [51] pp. Quarto (8" x 12"). Contemporary quarter vellum
over paper boards, hand-lettered title to spine and bottom edge.
Moderate soiling and rubbing with some wear to extremities. Title page
printed in red and black, attractive woodcut printer device, head-
pieces and decorated initials. Two early signatures to title page in
fine hand, a few annotations and small markings to text. Light
browning to a few leaves, occasional light foxing, text otherwise
fresh. A nice copy of an uncommon title. $750.
* Later edition. With subject and title indexes. An early work on
legal aspects of billing and administration. Not in Goldsmiths, Kress
or the British Museum Catalogue.
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3.           By A Distinguished Legal Philologist
Gothofredus, Jacobi [Godefroy, Jacques]. [1587-1652]. Opera Juridica
Minora, sive Libelli, Tractatus, Orationes, & Opuscula Rariora &
Praestantiora...Cum Icone Auctoris, Indice Copiosissimo et Praefatione
C.H. Trotz. Leiden: J.A. Langerak, 1733. [vi], 1418, [57] pp. Folio
(10" x 16"). Title page printed in red and black with engraved
vignette. Early quarter calf over paper boards, exterior quite worn, a
good candidate for rebinding. Light, acceptable dampstaining
throughout, a few repairable mold spots and soiling to final fifty
leaves. $450.
* First edition. Jacob, son of Denis, was a jurist and legal
philologist who edited the Quatour Fontes Juris Civilis, a collection
of ante-Justinian texts that comprised a reconstruction of the Twelve
Tables, and a great edition and commentary on the Theodosian Code
(1665). The well-esteemed Opera Juridica and the Manual Juris (1645)
are his other principal works.  Walker, The Oxford Companion to Law
529. British Museum Catalogue 10:758. Graesse, Tresor de Livres Rares
and Precieux II:100.
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4.        Last Edition Published During Jacob's Lifetime
Jacob, Giles [1686-1744]. A New Law-Dictionary: Containing, The
Interpretation and Definition of Words and Terms Used in the Law; and
Also the Whole Law, and the Practice Thereof, Under All the Heads and
Titles of the Same. Together With Such Informations Relating Thereto,
as Explain the History and Antiquity of the Law, and Our Manners,
Customs, and Original Government. Collected and Abstracted From All
Dictionaries, Abridgments, Institutes, Reports, Year-Books, Charters,
Registers, Chronicles, and Histories, Published to This Time. And
Fitted for the Use of Barristers, Students, and Practicioners of the
Law, Members of Parliament, and Other Gentlemen, Justices of Peace,
Clergymen, &c. The Fifth Edition, with Great Additions and
Improvements, and the Law-Proceedings Done Into English. To Which is
Annexed, a Table of References to All the Arguments and Resolutions of
the Lord Chief Justice Holt; in the Several Volumes of the Reports.
London: Printed by Henry Lintot, 1744. Unpaginated. Printed in double
columns. Folio (8-1/2" x 13-1/2"). Contemporary calf, rebacked
retaining original backstrip and lettering piece, endpapers renewed.
Rubbing and a few scuffs and chips to boards, wear to corners and
board edges with some loss. Minor tears to title page expertly mended.
Early signature to title page, occasional light foxing, interior
otherwise fresh. A nice copy. $1,250.
* Fifth edition, and the last edition published during the author's
lifetime. As Cowley has pointed out, the New Law-Dictionary was both
Jacob's masterpiece and "an entirely new departure in legal
literature" that provided a model for several subsequent efforts. In
contrast to earlier works, each entry summarizes all of the laws
relating to the subject and offers extensive interpretive commentary.
Obsolete terms are omitted. It was recognized almost immediately that
Jacob created a highly useful legal encyclopedia that was more
detailed and concise than any other abridgment of the period. An
extremely popular work that went through twelve editions between 1729
and 1800, it offers unparalleled insights into Anglo-American law
during the eighteenth century. Cowley, A Bibliography of Abridgements,
Digests, Dictionaries and Indexes to the Year 1800 xc-xci, 244.
Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law School (1909) I:1036.
Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of
Nations I:9 (33).
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5.                    "Of Immense Utility"
Nicolson, W[illiam] [1655-1727]. The English Historical Library. In
Three Parts. Giving a Short View and Character of Most of Our
Historians Either in Print or Manuscript: With an Account of Our
Records, Law-Books, Coins, and Other Matters Serviceable to the
Undertakers of a General History of England. London: Printed for
Timothy Childe and Robert Knaplock, 1714. Folio (9" x 14"). xiii, 272
pp. Contemporary calf, raised bands, gilt spine label. Rubbed, joints
cracked but firm. Dampstained, with some discoloration. Top portion of
front free endpaper excised. $350.
* Second (stated) edition. Nicolson was the Bishop of Carlisle and a
keen antiquarian. First published in 1696, his Library is an important
work of antiquarian scholarship that was not superseded for many
years. The Dictionary of National Biography notes that although
"[Nicolson's] haste in speech and in print led him into many mistakes,
. . .[the Library] was of immense utility." (XIV:501). It is still a
useful source. Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British
Commonwealth of Nations I:4(38).
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6.        First Collected Edition of United States Laws
[United States]. Laws of the United States of America. Volume I.
Containing, the Federal Constitution; The Acts of the Sessions of the
First and Second Congress; the Treaties Existing Between the United
States and Foreign Nations, and the Several Indian Tribes. Also,
Sundry Resolves of the First and Second Congress. Published by
Authority. Boston: Printed by Adams and Larkin, 1795. [ii], 519 pp.
Folio (8" x 13-1/2"). Recent maroon textured cloth, lettering piece,
gilt fillets and titles to spine, endpapers renewed, untrimmed edges.
Top edge of title page mended with cellotape, clean horizontal tear to
p. 239, minor worming to fore and bottom edges at front and rear of
text block. Interior notably fresh. Ex-library. Small stamps to
preliminaries, bookplate to front pastedown, small inventory label to
p. 5. A nice copy in a good-quality binding. $1,500.
* First edition, and the only volume published. The first collected
edition of United States laws, it contains laws passed at the first,
second and third sessions of the first Congress and the first and
second sessions of the second Congress. Among these are the first
judiciary and copyright acts, the act defining the crime of treason,
the act admitting Kentucky into the union, the acts establishing the
military, the District of Columbia and Bank of the United States. The
Constitution is followed by the texts of the Constitutional
Convention's resolution and transmittal to the states, the Bill of
Rights in the original twelve amendments proposed by Congress and the
ratification documents of each state. Evans, American Bibliography
29725. Babbitt, Hand-List of Legislative Sessions and Session Laws
542.
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