[Rarebooks] A Selection of Lawbook Exchange Titles

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Monday, February 02, 2004, 4:48 PM:

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1.             Chase's Blackstone
Blackstone, Sir William [1723-1780]. [Chase, George, Editor].
Commentaries on the Laws of England; In Four Books. So Abridged as to
Retain All Portions of the Original Work Which Are of Historical or
Practical Value, With Notes, and References to American Decisions; For
the Use of American Students. New York: Banks Law Publishing, 1922.
xxi, 1148 pp. Original buckram, red and black lettering pieces.
Moderate shelfwear. Owner stamp to front free endpaper, interior
otherwise clean. $125.
* Fourth edition. "[These volumes have been] rendered less useful than
formerly for purposes of instruction, since students find in them
...much that is dead law.... This defect is all the more serious from
the fact that students read this work at the outset of their studies,
when they have no fund of acquired legal knowledge which would enable
them  to discriminate  between those principles that are still in
force and those which have ceased to be a part of the law. A large
part of the original work is, moreover, given up to the consideration
of topics which relate exclusively to the English governmental and
ecclesiastical system, and are of little value to the American
student.... The object of this edition has been to retain all the
conspicuous and acknowledged merits of the Commentaries in their
unabridged form, while the defects and imperfections which impair the
usefulness of the work are carefully removed.": Preface, iii-iv. Not
in Eller. Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law School (1909)
I:189 (citing other Chase editions).
(Inventory # 39720)

2.   First Publication of Constitutional Convention Proceedings
[Constitution, United States]. [Adams, John Quincy (1767-1848),
Editor]. Journal, Acts and Proceedings of the Convention, Assembled at
Philadelphia, Monday, May 14, and Dissolved Monday, September 17,
1787, Which Formed the Constitution of the United States. Published
Under the Direction of the President of the United States, Conformably
to a Resolution of Congress of March 27, 1818. Boston: Printed and
Published by Thomas B. Wait, 1819. 511 pp. Octavo (5" x 8-1/2").
Contemporary sheep, lettering piece, blind-stamped fillets to boards
and backstrip. Moderate rubbing with wear to board edges, joints and
corners. Chipping to head of spine, inkstain to rear board, hinges
starting. Early owner signature to head of title page. Foxing and
offsetting to endleaves, interior otherwise fresh. $1,500.
* With brief biographical notices of delegates, ratification notices
from each state and the text of the Constitution. This book was the
first compilation of the journals and proceedings of the
Constitutional Convention. Kept secret since 1787, they were published
according to a congressional resolution in 1818. It is a landmark book
that marks the beginning of historical inquiries into the making of
the Constitution, a project that continues to this day. Sabin, A
Dictionary of Books Relating to America 15557. Ford, Bibliography and
Reference List of the History and Literature Relating to the Adoption
of the Constitution 108. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law
2943.
(Inventory # 39008)

3.             Highly Esteemed by Coke and Blackstone
[Fitzherbert, Anthony (1470-1538)]. The New Natura Brevium of the Most
Reverend Judge Mr. Anthony Fitz-Herbert. Together with the Authorities
in Law, and Cases in the Books Reports Cited in the Margin. Carefully
Revised, Some Errors in the Text of the Last Edition Corrected, and
the Writs Accurately Translated into English by an Able Hand. To Which
is Added a Commentary, Containing Curious Notes and Observations on
the Most Remarkable and Useful Writs, Which Illustrate and Explain
Many Doubtful and Abstruse Cases and Points in the Original by the
Late Lord Chief Justice Hale. With a New and Exact Table of the Most
Material Things Contained Therein. London: Printed by H. Watts, Law
Bookseller, 1793. Unpaginated. Octavo (5" x 7-1/2"). Contemporary
calf, rebacked in period style retaining lettering piece, hinges
reinforced. A few scuffs and minor stains to boards, moderate
edgewear, corners bumped. Later bookseller ticket and scratched-out
signature to front pastedown. Offsetting to margins of endleaves,
light browning and dampspotting to a few leaves, interior otherwise
fresh. A very nice copy. $350.
* Ninth edition. First published in 1534, the New Natura Brevium is a
manual of procedure written by a Judge of the Common Pleas during the
reign of Henry VIII. It was compiled from the earlier Natura Brevium
and the Registrum Brevium, and it includes several original
observations on the form and function of writs. Rastell's revisions
include the addition of a table. This distinguished treatise went
through numerous editions in Law French and English, the final
appearing in 1794. Blackstone considered it an authority; Winfield
notes that, "Coke put it among the books which he considered most
necessary and of greatest authority and excellency." It remains
significant to this day for its descriptions of writs that were
falling into desuetude at the time of publication.": Winfield, The
Chief Sources of English Legal History 302. Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal
Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations I: 269 (67).
Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law School (1909) I:699.
(Inventory # 38949)

4.             The First History of the Common Law
Hale, Matthew [1609-1676]. The History of the Common Law. With Notes,
References, and Some Account of the Life of he Author by Charles
Runnington. Dublin: Printed by James Moore, 1792. [ii], xl, [4], 305,
[12], 114, [8] pp. Octavo (5" x 8-1/4"). Contemporary sheep, lettering
piece, blind-stamped fillets to boards and backstrip. Light rubbing,
front board detached, rear board loose but holding. Some chipping to
spine ends, front free endpaper lacking. Offsetting to margins of
title page and following three leaves, foxing to index and rear
endleaves. Later owner stamp and signature to title page, underlining
and notes in pencil to a few leaves, interior otherwise clean. $400.
* Fourth edition. First published in 1713, Hale's History of the
Common Law was the first book on the subject. "Hale's wide reading
gave him a sense of historical perspective, which enabled him to map
out the important epochs. Sketch as it is his history is living
history because its author had a clear view of its whole course.":
Holdsworth, Sources and Literature of English Law 151-152. Sweet &
Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations
I:239(18).
(Inventory # 39567)

5.                  Second Edition of Jacob's Dictionary
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 Practisers of the Law,
Members of Parliament, and Other Gentlemen, Justices of Peace,
Clergymen, &c. With Large Additions. 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 E. and R. Nutt, and Richard Gosling, 1744. Unpaginated. Main text
printed in double columns. Folio (8-1/2" x 13-1/2"). Contemporary
calf, raised bands, lettering piece. Some rubbing with wear to board
edges, a few scuffs to boards, corners bumped and worn, some chipping
(and residue from cloth tape) to spine ends, boards loose but holding.
Front free endpaper detached. Early signature to front pastedown,
occasional light browning, interior otherwise fresh. $1,200.
* Second edition. As Cowley has pointed out, A 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, 223.
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).
(Inventory # 38945)

6.         Founding Text of the Law and Economics School
Posner, Richard A. Economic Analysis of Law. Boston: Little, Brown &
Co., 1972. xi, 415 pp. Original cloth, very light shelfwear. A short
note in pencil to front free endpaper, interior clean and bright. A
very attractive copy. $250.
* First Edition. This was the first treatise to apply economic models
to a general theory of law, Guido Calabresi's insights on risk
allocation and Ronald Coase's theorem about human behavior in a world
with no transaction costs in particular. It is now in its sixth
edition, it is one of the most influential legal books of the
twentieth century and the founding text of the law and economics
school.
(Inventory # 39726)

7.         First Edition of a Landmark in Jurisprudence
Rawls, John. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge: The Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press, [1971]. xv, 607 pp. Cloth very good in
lightly rubbed dust jacket. Owner signature and annotations to front
free endpaper, interior otherwise clean. $100.
* First edition, second printing, 1972. One of the most influential
books in the history of jurisprudence. Rawls aims to express an
essential part of the common core of the democratic tradition-justice
as fairness-and to provide an alternative to utilitarianism, which had
dominated the Anglo-Saxon tradition of political thought since the
nineteenth century. Advancing the ideas of Rousseau, Kant, Emerson,
and Lincoln, Rawls substitutes the ideal of the social contract as a
more satisfactory account of the basic rights and liberties of
citizens.
(Inventory # 39381)

8.              Story on Equity Pleadings
Story, Joseph [1779-1845]. Commentaries on Equity Pleadings, and the
Incidents Thereof, According to the Practice of the Courts of Equity
of England and America. Revised, Corrected and Enlarged. Boston:
Little, Brown, and Company, 1840. viii, 743 pp. Octavo (6" x 9").
Original law calf, red and black lettering pieces, blind-stamped
frames to boards. Moderate rubbing with wear to backstrip, board edges
and corners, chipping to lettering pieces, hinges cracked but secure.
Faint owner stamp to front board. Offsetting to margins of endleaves,
interior otherwise clean. $200.
* Second edition. This distinguished treatise was first published in
1836. According to Simon Greenleaf, "there are no works in our
language, in which the true doctrines and practice of the Law of
Equity...are so convincingly taught; and probably no one of his works
has been received by the profession with greater thankfulness, or is
more frequently consulted, than [this work]" (cited in Marvin). It
remained a standard work for many years; its final edition (the
thirteenth) was issued in 1886. Marvin, Legal Bibliography (1847) 672.
Catalogue of the Library of the Harvard Law School (1909) II:670.
(Inventory # 39638)

9.              Successor to Jacob's Dictionary
Tomlins, Sir Thomas Edlyne [1762-1841]. [Granger, Thomas Colpitts,
Editor]. The Law-Dictionary, Explaining the Rise, Progress, and
Present State of the British Law: Defining and Interpreating the Terms
or Words of Art, and Comprising also Copious Information on the
Subjects of Trade and Government. With Extensive Additions, Embodying
the Whole of the Recent Alterations in the Law. London: Printed for J.
and W.T. Clarke [et. al.], 1835. Two Volumes. Quarto (8-1/2" x 11").
Contemporary calf, raised bands, lettering pieces, gilt rules to
boards. Moderate wear to board edges, corners and joints, some
scuffing and chipping to spine, head of Volume I beginning to
separate. Bookseller tickets, institution stamps and early armorial
bookplates to pastedowns, later signatures to front free endpapers.
Interiors clean and bright. $400.
* Fourth edition. Tomlins edited and enlarged the later editions of
Jacob's dictionary in 1797, 1809 and 1810. He used Jacob as a model
when he published his dictionary in 1811. Tomlins created a new
dictionary rather than another edition of Jacob because he wanted to
cite the vast numbers of statutes at large, term reports in the
several courts, parliamentary reports and recent treatises and other
sources that had been published since the turn of the century. It was
a standard work in the early nineteenth century, but was eventually
supplanted in England by Wharton's Law Lexicon (1848) and in America
by Bouvier's Law Dictionary (1839). Catalogue of the Library of the
Harvard Law School (1909) II:755. Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal
Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations 2:359.
(Inventory # 39029)

10.       Among the Earliest English Texts on Conveyancing.
West, William [1568-1594]. The First Part of Symboleography. Which May
be Termed, The Art, or Description, of Instruments and Presidents.
Augmented with Divers New Presidents not Heretofore Printed. London:
Printed by the Assignes of John More, 1632.
[Bound with]
The Second Part of Symboleography, Newly Corrected and Amended, and
Verie Much Enlarged in All the Foure Severall Treatises. 1 Of Fines
and Concords. 2 Of Common Recoveries. 3 Of Offences and Indictments. 4
Of Compromises and Arbitrements. Whereunto is Annexed Another Treatise
of Equitie: The Jurisdiction, and Proceedings of the High Court of
Chancerie; of Supplications, Bils, and Answeres; and of Certaine Writs
and Commissions Issuing Thence, and There Also Returnable: Likewise
Much Augmented with Divers Presidents, for the Same Purpose, Beginning
at the 144. Section, and Continuing to the End of Bils and Answers.
With an Addition of Some Necessarie Examplars to be Used in His
Majesties Court of Exchequer, Wards and Liveries, and Starre-Chamber.
Hereunto is Also Added a Table for the More Easie and Readie Finding
of Matters, Herein Contained. London: Printed for the Companie of
Stationers, 1627.
Unpaginated; [ii], 350, 8 fols. Quarto (6" x 8"). Recent three-quarter
calf over marbled boards, gilt fillets and lettering piece to spine,
endpapers renewed. Top edge trimmed with some loss to page heading of
some leaves. Bookplate of Alexander Hume Campbell to verso of title
page. Occasional light foxing and a few minor inkstains, interior
otherwise clean. $700.
* Complete in two books. With forms. Later editions of one of the
earliest English texts that addresses conveyancing, which was first
published in 1590 and 1593. It is "a general practical treatise on
English law under its several divisions, and was held in great esteem
at the time. The demand for it was so great that West immediately
began to prepare a second edition, practically rewriting the whole
book." Marvin adds: "West's  Symboleographie has always been esteemed
a book of authority...and contains not only precedents in
conveyancing, but of indictments, and of proceedings in chancery.":
Legal Bibliography (1847) 726. Dictionary of National Biography
XX:1257. Holdsworth Sources and Literature of English Law 123. Pollard
and Redgrave, A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England,
Scotland, and Ireland 25276 and 25279.7.
(Inventory # 38989)

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