[Rarebooks] fs-A Selection from Stock, with Images

Joe Luttrell rarelaw at meyerbos.com
Tue Jun 29 22:03:35 EDT 2004


A selection of works which we have in stock, with images of them;
for others, please feel free to browse our web site, where you
may search our entire inventory by any word or phrase:
www.meyerbos.com

1.  [BECCARIA, Cesare].  An Essay on Crimes and Punishments,
Translated from the Italian; With a Commentary, Attributed to M. de
Voltaire, Translated from the French. A New Edition.  Printed by
Bell & Murray, for W. Gordon and W. Creech, Edinburgh, 1778.
Contemporary marbled boards, rebacked, title dusty; a sound copy.
[67617 L72L75E] PHOTO:
http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67617     $ 450.00

First Edinburgh edition of the seminal modern work on the theory of
penology, translated from the Italian into twenty-two languages,
inspiring Bentham, Blackstone, Romilly, Adams and Jefferson, and
undergirding the movement for penal reform.

2.  BELLI, Melvin M.  Ready for the Plaintiff. Second Printing.
Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1957.  Original blue cloth, gilt,
a very good copy in a chipped jacket. [67566 L72] PHOTO:
http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67566     $ 150.00

Belli's first book-length effort to convey to the public at large
the modern tort system he had done much to bring about, this copy
presented "To Shelly / Rutherford in / favor of the more / adequate
award / Melvin Belli".

3.  BENTHAM, Jeremy.  Rationale of Judicial Evidence, Specially
Applied to English Practice. Five Volumes.  Published by Hunt and
Clarke, York Street, Covent Garden, London, 1827.  Later blue
cloth, gilt, a bit faded, but a sound, clean set. [67769
XYL72L73EL74E] PHOTO:
http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67769   $ 3,500.00

Original edition of Bentham's legal masterpiece, laying claim as
his greatest contribution to intellectual thought and "rank[ing]
among the major achievements of our scholarly heritage", edited at
Bentham's request by John Stuart Mill.

4.  BLACKSTONE, William.  Commentaries on the Laws of England
[etc.]. Twelfth Edition.  Four Volumes. Eller 21.  Printed by A.
Strahan and W. Woodfall [etc.], London, 1793-95.  Modern 3/4 calf
over marbled boards, some browning, but a good set. [67849 Y]
PHOTO: http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67849
                                                       $ 1,750.00

One of the most desirable of all the early editions, famous for its
inclusion of thirteen full page engravings, the first of only two
editions to have them, including those of Coke, Fortescue, Hale and
Mansfield, among many others.

5.  [COKE ON LITTLETON].  Humphrey Davenport.  Synopsis, Or, An
Exact Abridgement of The Lord Cokes Commentaries upon Littleton:
Being A briefe explanation of the Grounds of the Common Law [etc.].
Wing C4958.  Printed by E.G. for Matthew Walbancke at Grayes Inne
Gate [etc.], London, 1652.  Modern 1/4 calf over marbled boards,
light browning; a good copy. [67489 L72] PHOTO:
http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67489     $ 650.00

First abridgment of one of the most famous English law books, and
the only one to appear in the 17th century, offering the essence of
(in Maitland's words) Coke's "enormous learning [shovelled out] in
vast disorderly heaps"; with the two portraits.

6.  COKE, Edward.  Les Reports de . . . diuers Resolutions, &
Iudgements donnes auec graund deliberation, per les tresreuerended
Iudges, & Sages de la ley . . . & les raisons, & causes des dits
resolutions & iudgemts [etc]. S.T.C. 5494.3.  Printed for the
Company of Stationers [by A. Islip], London, 1619.  Contemporary
calf, rebacked, one blank defective; a very good copy. [67660 L72]
PHOTO: http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67660
                                                       $ 1,500.00

An early edition (the fifth) of the first part of Coke's reports,
and the last to be printed during his lifetime, in Plucknett's
words "extremely select [and] [b]eyond all doubt . . . the cream of
the cream from Coke's collections".

7.  DOUGLAS, William O.  Go East, Young Man, The Autobiography of
William O. Douglas.  Random House, New York, 1974.  A bit of
foxing, name on title; a good copy in the dustjacket. [67746
L72L75E] PHOTO:
http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67746     $ 150.00

First edition of Justice Douglas' first volume of autobiography,
inscribed by him on the front blank; with separate chapters on his
years in law school and in practice, his academic career at
Columbia and Yale, and his tenure at the SEC.

8.  DUNCOMBE, Giles.  Trials per Pais: Or, The Law of England
concerning Juries by Nisi Prius . . . With a Compleat Treatise of
The Law of Evidence . . . Very Useful . . . for all Lawyers,
Attornies, and other Practisers, especially at the Assizes. Eighth
Edition. Two Volumes.  Printed by H. Woodfall and W. Strahan . . .
for T. Waller [etc.], London, 1766.  Modern black cloth, gilt, some
light browning, but a sound set. [67556 L72] PHOTO:
http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67556     $ 650.00

The first substantial treatise on the English jury and the English
law of evidence, deservedly popular and published for over a
century, with Duncombe's earlier published observations on trials
in capital cases appended; one copy only in the UK.

9.  [ERSKINE, THOMAS].  The Trial of John Horne Tooke, for High
Treason, at the Sessions House in the Old Bailey [November 17 to
22, 1794]. Taken in Short-hand, By Joseph Gurney. Two Volumes.
Sold by Martha Gurney, Bookseller, Holborn-Hill, London, 1795.
Modern blue cloth, gilt, a very good, clean set. [67484 L72] PHOTO:
http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67484     $ 750.00

Erskine's successful defense (ably assisted by Horne Tooke) in "one
of the most contentious and sensational criminal prosecutions ever
mounted by the British state", effectively demolishing the Crown's
prosecution theory of 'constructive treason'.

10.  [FIELD, STEPHEN J.].  [Chauncey F. Black (ed.)].  Some Account
of the Work of Stephen J. Field as a Legislator, State Judge, and
Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. With an
Introductory Sketch by John Norton Pomeroy.  Privately printed,
[New York], 1881.  Original red cloth, quite rubbed and worn, yet
a usable copy. [67619 L72] PHOTO:
http://www.meyerbos.com/bookListing.cgi?bookNo=67619     $ 250.00

Original edition of the sole contemporary biographical account of
Field, the controversial California and United States Supreme Court
Justice, brother of David Dudley Field, and the foremost proponent
of the doctrine of substantive due process.

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