31st Mar, 2020 11:00

Books & Works on Paper including Autographs & Memorabilia

 
  Lot 38
 

Law.- Crompton (Richard)

Law.- Crompton (Richard)

L'authoritie et iurisdiction des courts de la Maiestie de la Roygne…, FIRST EDITION, large woodcut initial and ornaments, text mostly in black letter, title reinforced, U3 repair to blank right margin, light toning, slight water staining to first and last few leaves, extensive annotations concerning the text in 2 early hands (16th & 17th century) throughout, contemporary English blind-tooled calf, boards double ruled, inner panel featuring small fleurs de lis, and initials ‘R. C.’, yapp edges, re-backed with original spine almost entirely preserved, new endpapers, remains of ties, [STC (2nd ed.), 6050], 4to, Charles Yetsweirt, 1594.

*** First Edition of Crompton's Survey of the Courts. Crompton (1573-1599) was lawyer of a family settled at Bedford Grange in the parish of Leigh, Lancashire, and was educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, but did not proceed to a degree. He became a member and a bencher of the Middle Temple during the reign of Henry VIII and wrote several notable juristic works. He was one of the more important Elizabethan legal thinkers and ‘L'authoritie et Jurisdiction’ was the first book on English law to focus exclusively on the royal courts. Crompton describes not only the Court of Star Chamber, the Chancery, and the court functions of Parliament, but other smaller and less well-known courts. As early as 1600, the English legal scholar William Fulbeck praised Crompton's work. He recommended Crompton's books to law students because they were both comprehensive and concise, so "that a man may by them in a few hours gain great knowledge”.

Provenance: the binding bears the initials R.C. on the boards. The annotations, likely by two lawyers or law students, provide a glimpse into an early 16th century Justice’s actual practice of reading the law.

Sold for £1,000

Includes Buyer's Premium


 

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