Fortescue, Sir John; John Selden

De Laudibus Legum Angliae, Written By Sir John Fortescue

      Fortescue, Sir John [1394? - -1476?]. Selden, John [1584-1654], Editor. [Mulcaster, Robert, Translator]. De Laudibus Legum Angliae. Written by Sir John Fortescue, Lord Ch. Justice, And After Lord Chancellor to K. Henry VI. Hereto Are Added the Two Sums of Sir Ralph de Hengham L. Ch. Justice to K. Edward I. Commonly Call'd Hengham Magna, & Hengham Parva. With Notes Both on Fortescue and Hengham by that Famous and Learned Antiquarie John Selden Esq. London: Printed by John Streater, Eliz. Flesher [et al.], 1672. [vii], 3-132, [3] ff.; [vi], 51, [13], 140 [i.e. 144] pp. De Laudibus Legum Angliae in English and Latin in parallel columns; Hengham's Summae in Latin only. Notes in English. Octavo (5-3/4" x 3-3/4"). Contemporary sheep, nineteenth-century rebacking, blind rules to boards, gilt title and blind fillets to spines, endpapers renewed. Moderate rubbing to extremities, corners somewhat worn, front hinge starting. "F. Pollock/ Linc: Inn" to front pastedown. About 1/4" strip excised from head of title page. Light toning, interior otherwise fresh. * Third Selden edition. De Laudibus Legum Angliae (c.1470), a history of English law, was written for the instruction of Edward, the young Prince of Wales. Cast in dialogue form, it demonstrates that the common law was the oldest and most reasonable legal system in Europe. It also compares the common and Roman systems and extols the superiority of a constitutionally limited monarch to an absolute monarch. De Laudibus was written around 1470 and first printed in 1567. The edition by Selden was first published in 1616 and reissued in 1660, 1672 and 1737 with various additions. The title page of the 1741 printing states that it is the "Second Edition." "Fortescue was a favorite among the old lawyers, and will be read with profit in modern times by those who are interested in the origin and progress of the Common Law.": Marvin, Legal Bibliography (1847) 321. Sir Frederick Pollock [1845-1937], one of the greatest British judges and legal scholars of his day. His treatises on contracts, jurisprudence the common law and other subjects did much to clarify and systematize English law. Several of these were standard texts that went thro. [Attributes: Hard Cover]