Hawkins, William.

A TREATISE OF THE PLEAS OF THE CROWN: Or a System of the Principal Matters relating to the Subject, digested under their proper Heads.

      E. and R. Nutt and R. Gosling. -6. 1724 - 2nd Ed. Corrected with the Addition of some References. 2 vols. in 1. Folio. T.p. + ded. [ii] + Preface [ii] + An Account of the Authors . [ii] + An Analysis of the First Book . [vi] + 266pp. + Index ([Yyy2]-Kkkk) + T.p. + ded. [ii] An Analysis [iii] + Publ. advert. [i] + 464pp. + Index (C5c-[X5x]). Some light browning, contemporary annotations, nicely rebound in modern speckled calf, gilt rule edged raised bands with gilt lettered title label to spine. ESTCT126275. William Hawkins (1681/2?1750), serjeant-at-law. ?. His career as a legal writer began as early as 1711 with an abridgement of Coke upon Littleton, which reached a fourth edition in 1822. He is best known in the legal profession for his Pleas of the Crown (1716?21), a copy of which he presented to Oriel. This treatise may indeed have been his principal qualification for the coif. It was the first substantial exposition of English criminal law to be printed since that by Sir Edward Coke (1552?1634), and it represented a distinct advance in terms of analysis and detail. The masterpiece by Sir Matthew Hale (1609?1676), the Historia placitorum coronae, was not published until 1736, and even then it did not supplant Hawkins, being an earlier composition. In the third edition of Hawkins, in 1739, references to Hale were inserted by G. L. Scott. Posthumous editions appeared in 1762, 1771 (by Thomas Leach), 1787, 1795, and 1824 (by John Curwood), and a summary was published in 1728 (second edition 1770) .? US$684 [Attributes: Signed Copy; Hard Cover]