Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - February - 2019 Issue

Legal Books, Manuscripts, and Ephemera from the Lawbook Exchange

Law books, manuscripts, and ephemera.

The Lawbook Exchange has released a new catalogue of Books, Manuscripts & Ephemera 15th to 20th Centuries with Many New Arrivals. This is a thick catalogue with over 150 items, each well described and illustrated. They range from the more legalistic types of treatises to accounts of sensational trials that everyone wanted to read about in their day. There is also a selection of very old law books, early printed editions of texts, some of which first appeared centuries before the invention of printing in manuscript form. This is an exciting collection of the law for both legal scholars and laymen fascinated by the workings of the law. Here are a few samples.

 

We begin with the earliest compilation of English case law, one that predates printing by a couple of centuries. However, this is the first printed edition, published in 1569. The title is De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae... (on the laws and customs of England), the author Henry de Bracton. It was written between 1250 and 1256. De Bracton was an English jurist, and his work shows the influence of Roman law, but with an English character. De Bracton separated substantive from procedural issues, and while previous decisions did not yet constitute case law, he provided the reasoning behind prior cases, making their use as precedent a logical conclusion. This work is generally considered the best English legal work of the Middle Ages. Item 18. Priced at $12,500.

 

Fast forward five centuries and we have the most notable commentary on English law ever written. We can add American law as well, as it is an offshoot of English law, and item 12 is a first American edition of Commentaries on the Laws of England. The author was William Blackstone, and this work is generally just known as Blackstone's Commentaries. It was published in 1771-72. Even after the Revolution, Blackstone's Commentaries remained the premier law text in America, since there was no separate American law at the time. It continued to play that role through most of the 19th century. It comes in four volumes, the final one including the 839-name subscriber list, which included John Adams, John Jay, John Dickinson, and sixteen signers of the Declaration of Independence. $12,500.

 

Poetry is not always uplifting, as this miserable title painfully reveals: A Poem of the Depressing and Afflictive Death of the Rev. Josiah M. Muspratt. Who Was Killed in an Awful Manner; Being Caught Up in the Machinery of Whitesborough Factory, Carried Up to the Floor Above by His Arm, Where it was Drawn from his Body, From Whence He Fell Again to the Floor, Torn and Lacerated in the Most Shocking Manner; May 1827. Welcome to the industrial age, Rev. Muspratt. That title really makes you want to read more. Rev. Muspratt was a Methodist minister as well as Superintendent at a weaving mill in Whitesborough, New York. The poem describes him as a Christian martyr who sought to save the souls of the factory workers. This broadside is attached (on top of) another broadside poetic masterpiece: The Dying Words, Confession, And Execution of Jesse Straang, For the Murder of John Whipple, at Albany, August 27, 1827. No more squeezing the Charmin for Mr. Whipple. John Strang (misspelled here with an extra "a") fell in love with Mrs. Whipple, Elsie Whipple, a member of the prominent Van Rensselaer family. They conspired to kill Mr. Whipple. Elsie was acquitted, but Jesse was not so fortunate. His hanging was the last public execution in Albany. Item 21. $1,750.

 

Item 108 is a first edition of Reformacion der Stat Nuremberg. This is the reformed legal code of the city of Nuremberg. It was enacted in 1479, though this first printed edition was issued in 1522. Nuremberg was a cultural center during the Renaissance, and its code reflects its position, straightforward and humanistic. However, it is not the first printing of this important legal code that is the most notable feature of this book. Rather, it is the full-page frontispiece illustration in it. It is the first appearance of Lady Justice in a book, and the artist was Nuremberg's great artist-son, Albrecht Durer. It originally had been issued as a separate print a year earlier. Lady Justice is depicted on one upper corner of the image with a sword in one hand, the famous scales in another. Across from her is Charity, who pours out coins from a purse near her heart. $12,500.

 

Next is a broadside from the Jim Crow era in the South, a racist attack on another racist, as political candidates jockeyed for position as the more anti-black candidate. Item 20 is unattributed but lithographed by F. A. Hull in 1904. It is an attack on Judge Francis D. Winston's campaign for Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina. Its headline screams out, A Sample of Democratic White Supremacy in North Carolina. Judge Winston's Dream of Riding the District with George H. White the Negro of "Inflooence." It depicts Winston riding in a carriage with a grotesquely racist stereotype of former Reconstruction-era Congressman George H. White, the last African American after his retirement in 1901 to serve in Congress until 1928, and the last from North Carolina until 1992. It continues by quoting a supposed letter from Winston to White while running for judge in 1890 describing the "remote possibility" of riding the district with White as "a great pleasure." It concludes by asking "Are the people of North Carolina going to elect Judge Francis D. Winston Lieutenant-Governor?" A bit of history is necessary to understand what is going on here. Winston had once been a Republican, and as such, presumably of relatively moderate views. However, perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, he switched to the Democratic Party by 1896 on account of the fusion between the Republicans and the Populists, which also included blacks among their small farmers and laborers. Winston then led one of the "Red Shirt" campaigns, the Red Shirts being a racist terror organization similar to the KKK. Winston promoted a "white supremacist" agenda. The broadside ridicules Winston by treating his "white supremacist" talk as if referring to black Congressman George White, rather than the white race. Winston was elected. $1,850.

 

The Lawbook Exchange may be reached at 732-382-1800 or law@lawbookexchange.com. Their website is www.lawbookexchange.com.

Rare Book Monthly

  • Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG BEADED JUDICIAL COLLAR. $80,000 - $120,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: ONLY KNOWN COPY OF THE ONLY BOOK BY THE REMARKABLE EVE ADAMS. $8,000 - $12,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A COMPLETE RUN OF VISIONAIRE MAGAZINE THROUGH 2010. $6,000 - $9,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: LAW REVIEW OFFPRINT SIGNED AND INSCRIBED BY RUTH BADER GINSBURG. $3,000 - $5,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: META REBNER'S WORKING SCRIPT OF THE LOVED ONE. $1,500 - $2,000
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A KATHY GROVE PORTRAIT OF CYNDI LAUPER FOR THE FEBRUARY 1989 DETAILS COVER. $800 - $1,200
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A PLASTIC COAT BY MILLIE DAVID FEATURED IN SOHO NEWS STYLE SECTION, FROM THE COLLECTION OF ANNIE FLANDERS. $500 - $700
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A RUTH BADER GINSBURG JEWELRY BOX. $600 - $900
    Bonhams, Mar. 22 – Apr. 2: A SET OF JONI MITCHELL LYRICS FOR "IF I HAD A HEART." $2,000 - $3,000
  • 19th Century Shop
    Catalogue 198 just published
    19th Century Shop. Darwin and Wallace, first printing of the first paper on natural selection
    19th Century Shop. Shakespeare’s Poems, first collected edition
    19th Century Shop. Walt Whitman portrait inscribed with a Leaves of Grass poem
    19th Century Shop. Major Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript notebook
    19th Century Shop. Spock's Baby Book, original MS
    19th Century Shop. Cellarius, Harmonia Macrocosmica, the great celestial atlas
  • Potter & Potter Auctions
    How History Unfolds on Paper:
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [RUTH, George Herman “Babe” (1895-1948)]. Signed photograph. Circa 1930s. 191 x 248 mm. $1,500 to $2,500.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HARRISON, Benjamin. Document signed (“Benj Harrison”) as governor of Virginia, certifying the service of Daniel Cumbo, a Black Revolutionary soldier. $6,000 to $9,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: ONE OF THE FIRST PRINTED ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: FIRST PRINTING OF LINCOLN’S IMMORTAL GETTYSBURG ADDRESS. $4,000 to $6,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: HIGHLY IMPORTANT MORMON ARCHIVE. ALLEY, George. Archive of 23 Autograph Letters Signed by Mormon Convert George Alley to His Brother Joseph Alley. $10,000 to $20,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [AVIATION]. [ARMSTRONG, Neil A.] Aviation Hall of Fame Gold Medal MS64 NGC, Awarded to Neil Armstrong in 1979. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: NEWLY DISCOVERED FIRST PRINTING OF "WITH MALICE TOWARDS NONE... " FROM THE ONLY NEWSPAPER ACTUALLY ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN LINCOLN’S SECOND INAUGURAL PROCESSION. $4,000 to $8,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: THE MOST IMPORTANT GEORGE WASHINGTON DOCUMENT IN PRIVATE HANDS; GEORGE WASHINGTON’S COMMISSION AS COMMANDER IN CHIEF, 1775, ONE OF ONLY TWO ORIGINALS. $150,000 to $250,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: A VERY RARE ACCOUNT OF BLACKBEARD’S DEATH AND ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIRATE ITEMS EXTANT. $3,000 to $5,000.
    Potter & Potter Auctions
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    April 18, 2024
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: EDISON, Thomas. Patent for Edison’s Improvements on the Electric-Light, No. 219,628. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Patent Office], 16 September 1879. $2,000 to $3,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: [VIETNAM WAR]. The original pen used by Secretary of State William P. Rogers to sign the Vietnam Peace Agreement, Paris, 27 January 1973. $10,000 to $15,000.
    Potter & Potter, Apr. 18: SONS OF LIBERTY FOUNDER COLONEL BARRÉ ANNOTATED TITLE-PAGE, “WHICH OUGHT TO ROUSE UP BRITISH ATTENTION”. $4,000 to $6,000.
  • Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: [Langland (William)]. The vision of Pierce Plowman, nowe the seconde time imprinted..., Roberte Crowley, 1550. £8,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: [Shakespeare (William)]. [Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies], second folio edition, [by Tho.Cotes, for Robert Allot], [1632]. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Bible, Czech Biblia Bohemica, first complete Bible printed in the Czech vernacular, Prague, August 1488. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Auctions
    Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper
    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Shabthai Tzvi.- Collection of four printed and illustrated broadsides detailing the appearance, rise and fall of the false messiah, Shabthai Tzvi, Augsburg, 1666-67. £40,000 to £60,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Leaf from the Beauvais Missal, in Latin, illuminated manuscript on parchment, [Northern France (perhaps Beauvais or Amiens)], [fourteenth century (c.1310)]. £4,000 to £6,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Aubrey (John). [Remaines of Gentilisme and Judaisme], manuscript in English, Latin and Greek, [c. 1693]. £30,000 to £50,000.
    Forum Auctions
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    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: Byron (George Gordon Noel, Lord). Poems on Various Occasions, first edition, Harriet Maltby's copy, Newark, Printed by S. & J. Ridge, 1807. £30,000 to £40,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Tolkien (J.R.R.) The Hobbit, first edition, second impression with dust-jacket, 1937 [but 1938]. £7,000 to £10,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Blake (William).- Thornton (Robert John). The Pastorals of Virgil, 2 vol., engraved plates by William Blake, 1821. £8,000 to £12,000.
    Forum Auctions
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    28th March 2024
    Forum Mar. 28: America.- Mount (William J.) & Thomas Page. The English Pilot…, [bound with] The Fourth Book, describing The West Indies Navigation from Hudson's-Bay to the River Amazones, 1721. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Oldfield (Henry Ambrose), Rajman Singh Chitrakar & others. An album of 160 photographs and 13 original artworks, (1833-1919), [c. 1850s-1880s]. £20,000 to £30,000.
    Forum Mar. 28: Audubon (John James) [and William MacGillivray]. Ornithological Biography…, 5 vol., first edition, presentation copy inscribed by Audubon, Edinburgh, 1831-49 [i.e. 1831-39]. £10,000 to £15,000.
  • Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Winston Churchill. The Second World War. Set of First-Edition Volumes. 6,000 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: A.A. Milne, Ernest H. Shepard. A Collection of The Pooh Books. Set of First-Editions. 18,600 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Salvador Dalí, Lewis Carroll. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Finely Bound and Signed Limited Edition. 15,000 USD
    Sotheby’s
    Modern First Editions
    Available for Immediate Purchase
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ian Fleming. Live and Let Die. First Edition. 9,500 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter Series. Finely Bound First Printing Set of Complete Series. 5,650 USD
    Sotheby’s, Available Now: Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms. First Edition, First Printing. 4,200 USD

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