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Property Law — England & Scotland

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•  Second edition, corrected and enlarged, following the first of the previous year; the work was successful enough that a third edition also appeared in 1758. Sir John Dalrymple (1726–1810) was a Scottish lawyer and historian who was politically active in supporting Roman Catholic relief projects in England, Scotland, and Ireland; the DNB adds that he was “an active, well-liked if sometimes irritating member of the Edinburgh literati.”

In reference to the present work, Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England quotes Sweet as noting that the author, “notwithstanding some errors on antiquarian points of little importance, cannot be too highly praised for the philosophical accuracy and elegance with which he has treated a subject that most writers contrive to render extremely obscure and repulsive.”

The chapter headers are “History of the introduction of the feudal system into Great Britain,” “History of tenures,” “History of the alienation of land property,” “History of entails,” “History of the laws of succession or descent,” “History of the forms of conveyance,” “History of jurisdictions, and of the forms of procedure in courts,” and “History of the constitution of Parliament.”

“Great Britain,” here, is England and Scotland; Ireland is scarcely mentioned.

•  ESTC T143530; Goldsmiths'-Kress (suppl.) 9336.2-1; Sweet & Maxwell, I, 444.5. On Dalrymple, see: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online.   Contemporary calf framed in blind, rebacked, spine with blind-ruled raised bands; totally plain with no labels; corners and edges moderately rubbed. Title-page with early inked ownership inscription in upper portion; errata crossed out in ink, reading not much hindered. First third of volume with early inked underlining and occasional marginalia; one lower corner torn away, affecting catchword.  (24331)

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Dalrymple’sCunning Knavery

(Dalrymple, John).

•  This anonymous pamphlet is an attack on vol. I of the Memoirs of Great-Britain & Ireland from the Dissolution of the Last Parliament of Charles II (1771) by Sir John Dalrymple (1726–1810). “Illustrated by collections of state papers from Versailles and London, [these Memoirs] caused some sensation from their revelations as to the motives actuating some of the more eminent statesmen of that time” (DNB)—especially Lord Russell and Algernon Sydney. The second pagination sequence contains letters in support of the pamphlet, “From the Public Advertiser. March 5, 1773,” and a “List of books printed for J. Almon.”

•  ESTC T12257. On Dalrymple, see: The Dictionary of National Biography, XIII, 424–25. Removed from a nonce volume; first and last pages soiled; 6-digit number rubber-stamped on title-page. Chipping in upper inner corners of first three leaves; shallow chipping and dog-earing to the whole, with soiling on the edges and corners.

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RareAyr Imprint

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•  Two works onthe Creation by 18th-century writers of very different backgrounds. Dalrymple was a native of Ayr, educated for the church, and served in Ayr for 68 years. His Mosaic Account appeared in this sole edition and was one of the first books printed in Ayr, which received its first press in 1791 when John Wilson, one of the printers here, set up shop. It is rare: ESTC locates only three copies worldwide, two in Britain and one in Canada (BL, SNL, Un. Brit. Col.).

Browne, according to our colleague Steve Weissman of Ximenes Rare Books, “was a pen-cutter by profession; he was also an enthusiastic fisherman, and is now best remembered for his poetry on angling, and for an edition of The Compleat Angler, which he edited at the suggestion of Samuel Johnson.” The first edition of The Works and Rest of the Creation appeared in 1752. The entire work, divided into three parts, is in verse. Quite an accomplishment.

•  Dalrymple: ESTC N26245. Browne: NSTC B4891. Later 19th-century half calf, rubbed. Rubber-stamp on front pastedown. All edges carmine.

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For Gentlemen & for Ladies

•  Fifth edition, following the first of 1704, “To which is added, A Word to the ladies, by way of Supplement to the First Part.” Darrell (1651–1721) was a Jesuit professor who taught moral philosophy at the college at St. Omer and at Liège; his advice for gentlemen and gentlewomen on leading suitably pious lives is written in energetic and contemporary, but distinctly conservative style, and includes “a full Confutation of atheism and Latitudinarianism.”

Each portion has a separate title-page; the signature marks would seem to indicate a main half-title not present here, but ESTC’s collation does not call for one. The work is sometimes attributed to George Hickes, whose name appears after the dedication.

•  ESTC T108841; DeBacker-Sommervogel, II, 1828 (for first ed.). Contemporary mottled sheep, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label; rubbed and abraded with back joint starting to crack from top, spine with stamped call number. One front and one rear fly-leaf excised. Library bookplates, stamped numerals, pressure-stamps, and rubber-stamp to bottom edge; front pastedown with inked presentation note, front free endpaper with inked inscription dated 1805 (lined through), and private owner’s small rubber-stamp. Moderate foxing; some leaves with splashed inkstains extending inwards from outer edges; light waterstaining to lower inner margins of center portion of volume.

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IMPERFECT.  Well Worth HavingANYWAY.

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•  First of a famous, extended poem on plants and nature by Charles Darwin's grandfather. One of two frontispieces by Fuseli is present, the famous plate “The Fertilization of Egypt” designed by Fuseli and engraved by Blake is here, and two of the four Blake-engraved plates of the Portland Vase are also present.

•  Library buckram; frontispiece detached but present; waterstaining; a few old tape repairs. Age-toning and a few edges chipped. Lacks three plates. Offsetting from the plates. (1659)

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“I Was Born in the Year 1632 . . . ”

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•  Illustrated late 18th-century rendition of this classic tale: The Stockdale edition of Defoe's most-read novel contains a frontispiece and engraved title-page in each volume, along with an engraved portrait of Defoe and 12 engraved illustrations done by Medland after drawings by Stothard. Chalmers’s Life of Defoe appears in this edition for the first time anywhere; another interesting addition is “A List of Writings, which are considered as undoubtedly De Foe’s.”

A handsome edition of a great, indeed landmark English novel.

•  ESTC N47632; Lowndes, III, 613; NCBEL, II, 900 (first few eds. only). Contemporary half calf over marbled paper–covered sides, bindings overall worn and rubbed with leather lost over corners and front joint of vol. I cracked though holding; now housed in a handsome clamshell case of quarter calf with marbled paper sides, spine with gilt-stamped leather title-label and gilt-stamped decorations. Front free endpapers with pencilled ownership inscription (dated 1875 in vol. I); front pastedowns with 20th-century collector’s bookplate. Light to moderate foxing to pages in proximity to plates, with occasional small spots to other pages; plates spotted and browned although not beyond expectable degrees. Worthy.

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ENGLISH DEMOSTHENES

•  Second edition of Thomas Leland’s English translations of these speeches. Although the spine label reads “Vol. I” and the cataloguing slip on the front pastedown describes two (with “3" having been crossed out) volumes, this is a stand-alone volume; The Orations of Demosthenes, on Occasions of Public Deliberation and The Orations of Æschines and Demosthenes on the Crown were issued separately, though later reprinted as a uniform set.

The oversized, folding map of ancient Greece and her surroundings was engraved by Thomas Jefferys. A preface and brief introductions speak of Demosthenes as an orator among other contemporary orators, supply historical background, and set scenes.

•  ESTC T63901; Schweiger, I, 90. Contemporary speckled calf, spine with gilt-stamped leather title and volume labels and gilt-stamped floral decorations within compartments; edges and extremities rubbed, with front joint holding only tenuously and back joint starting. Front pastedown with portion of old catalogue affixed, pencilled annotation, and traces of now-absent bookplate; front free endpaper with institutional bookplate. Map with old taped repairs to reverse; pages very slightly age-toned, with occasional instances of faint foxing.

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“To the King”   

Denham, John

•  Uncut copy. Originally published in 1642. This reprint is a copy of the issue with printer's flowers at the top of p. 5 and with the second line of imprint reading "near the Water-side, 1709"; the first line of p. 16 reads, "Fair Liberty pursu'd, and meant a Prey". Denham (1615–69) took the Royalist side during the Civil Wars; this piece about Chertsey Abbey, dismantled by order of Henry VIII, and the scenery around Windsor, is a classic of topographical poetry.

•  ESTC N15580; Foxon D214. Removed from a nonce volume. One leaf torn into the text of one page, in the margin of the other. Very good copy.

Representing the Farmer's Weekly Museum — 1796

[Dennie, Joseph].

•  First collected edition of these pieces, most of which originally appeared in the Farmer's Weekly Museum, "a rural paper of Newhampshire" per Dennie and "one of the best New England papers of its day" according to the DAB. The author, who quickly abandoned a mediocre legal career but enjoyed an extended stint as one of the fashionable literati of the time, produced a fair number of Federalist writings; his bent towards political commentary is partially but not wholly submerged in these short, often humorous religious exhortations. A good example is the essay on the text "Little children, keep yourselves from idols," which tarries briefly with the topic of women's fascination with the looking-glass before moving on to the more exciting "Green Draggons of sedition," which are responsible for encouraging Americans to "forget washington . . . your first love" and to dabble in "scribbling saucy toasts, and vamping rash resolves against the treaties and laws of your land" (p. 37).

Provenance: Front fly-leaf is inscribed "P Doddridge to his sister Harriett" in an early hand. There is a Doddridge County in New Hampshire, but who "P" and "Harriett" were, we cannot say.

•  ESTC W20627; BAL 4633; Evans 30335; Sabin 19585. On Dennie, see: Dictionary of American Biography, V, 235–37. Contemporary mottled sheep rebacked with plain cloth, abraded (most notably over edges and corners); hinges taped (inside) some time ago. Some offsetting and a few scattered light spots; one page with portion of text insufficiently inked during printing. Chip out of one page margin, just touching but not obscuring outermost letters.

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By a Friend ofNewton & Halley

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•  Reconciling science and theology while maintaining the tenets and “proofs” of both is not easy and has been a field of study unto itself for centuries now. Derham (1657–1735), a clergy and amateur scientist, seems to have had the formula that pleased readers in England and America during of the Age of Enlightenment, for this is the sixth of at least 19 editions in English alone in the 18th century, the first having appeared in 1715. Even Russians were attracted to the work, for a Russian language edition appeared in 1798.

Derham's intention here, as with his Boyle Lectures (published as Physico-Theology), is “to refute anti-Christian philosophies by using natural history to promote and prove a natural theology” (on-line DNB). That he was a worthy friend of Newton and Halley can be seen in the serious science contained here.

This has three folding plates and a number of nice head- and tailpieces.

•  ESTC T68038.   Recent quarter brown leather, round spine, raised bands accented with gilt beading. Combed-pattern marbled paper on sides. Early ownership signature on title-page. A bit of foxing, only; clean and pleasant. (21563)

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Only the Jewels Were Real

The first-person, passionate mémoires/pleadings/depositions in this case were snapped up hot off the press, to be eagerly read by the public and criticized as if literature or theater (Funck-Brentano, ch. 3). The case was theater, and in the hands of Dumas père it became literature; it was in turn a movie, and maybe it's time to bring it to film once again!

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The Diamond Necklace Affair,

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Constitutions of theSpanish Discalced Carmelites

•  Constitutions governing the Spanish congregation of the Discalced Carmelite Friars, the Brethren of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, known to the English as the White Friars from the color of their habits. Founded as an order in Palestine by St. Berthold about 1154, and reorganized along the lines of the mendicant friars by St. Simon Stock (ca. 1165–1265), they originally were among the strictest of the friars, but like many of the mendicants they fell into laxity in the later Middle Ages, and it took the exertions of St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross to restore to them rigor of observance. The reformed friars and sisters were, thereafter, known as discalced, i.e., unshod, from their custom of wearing sandals instead of shoes, and their newly reformed discipline was incorporated into their constitutions, as here exemplified.

This has a lovely title-page device of the Virgin and Child.

Rare: A search of NUC Pre-1956, OCLC, and RLIN revealed only two U.S. copies.

•  Palau 58873. Contemporary vellum with inked title on spine: a few holes and some staining to vellum; paper label at base of spine. Hinges (inside only) open. Some tattering and a little worming to endpapers; i Interior generally clean with occasional small spots of foxing. Paper label, with rubber-stamped numeral thereon, affixed to front free endpaper. Inked ownership inscription on title-page; rubber-stamps, including one on title-page.

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TO Part XI . . .

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