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)

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.

•  NSTC 2L23278. Removed from a nonce volume. Outer edges of pp. 6 and 7 darkened, otherwise clean. (16758)

This is a scarce document, with no copies listed by ESTC, RLIN, OCLC, or NUC Pre-1956.

•  In good clean condition, tipped onto a leaf of 19th-century paper; now in a Mylar folder.

•  Not in ESTC. Tipped onto a leaf of 19th-century paper, now in a Mylar folder. Slightly tattered, with a few small holes around margins and occasionally in text. Tears along folds to second leaf partially repaired some time ago, in one area with archival tissue and in three other places with paper, with text imperfectly aligned along one main fold and a few letters obscured along the other.

Click the image for an enlargement.

•  ESTC P74 (for full run from 1699–1708). Removed from a nonce volume. Inner margin tattered, repaired some time ago with loss of “The” from header and of a number of words along that margin on each side.

•  ESTC T168050. Now in a Mylar folder; edges slightly ragged, repair at lower inner margin just touching letters on one side, small holes in lower center with loss of a few letters. Some letters in header cut off at top due to printer’s error. Tipped onto a blank leaf bearing a watermark of 1826.

Click the image for an enlargement.

This work appeared with three different title-pages and there are even internal differences. In this copy the setting of quire B has line B3v with “Deliberations” spelled with the capital letter “D.”

• STC (rev ed.) 22058; ESTC S116980.   Removed from a nonce volume and in modern wrappers. First and last pages dust-soiled; tea (?) stain to last leaf. Ex-library with the not unattractive stamp of the Union Theological Seminary on the verso of the title and in the bottom margin of the last text page. Blank area of foremargin of B4 torn with loss. In modern wrappers. (21000)

•  ESTC R7382; Wing (rev.) F1087; Goldsmiths’-Kress 2518.0-2 suppl. Sewn, with spine and inner margins reinforced some time ago; now laid into a case of quarter morocco over cloth-covered boards. Pages age-toned, with small edge nicks; outer and upper edges trimmed closely, in some cases touching pagination. This collation, including the absence of C4, matches that reported by ESTC.

•  Creased along folds; spine reinforced with later cloth tape bearing inked identification annotation. First page with British governmental pressure-stamp, second page with folded paper mount from now-absent seal.

•  Not in NSTC. Removed from a bound volume. Good++ condition. (8419)

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“The Cork Leg and Steam Arm. / The Great Sea Snake. / The Sailor's Consolation. / The Wonderful Nose”

•  Not in NSTC. Removed from a nonce volume. Pages age-toned, otherwise clean. (16763)

•  Bitting 166–67; Cagle, A Matter of Taste, 691 (for fourth ed.). Contemporary mottled sheep, recently rebacked in complementary fashion, preserving the original gilt-stamped leather spine label; sides and edges worn, with abrasions. Title-page with stray small ink markings; half-title and title-page with outer edges darkened. A few leaves with spots of light staining; two lower corners torn away, and a number of others dog-eared. Pages mostly clean — this is overall an attractive copy.