LAW

[Thomas Hughes, politician and judge, author of 'Tom Brown's School Days'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Tho. Hughes') to 'Bricknell', regarding the threat of resignation (from the Athenaeum?) by 'the good but peppery & impulsive D[octo]r.'

Author: 
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), politician and judge, author of 'Tom Brown's School Days'
Publication details: 
7 June 1875. On letterhead of the Athenaeum Club [London].
£100.00

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Clearly and firmly written. The letter would appear to concern an individual who is threatening to resign his membership of the Athenaeum Club, and ends with reference to proxy voting for new members. Hughes begins by reporting that he has 'already written to the good but peppery & impulsive Dr. of whom I am as fond as you are'.

[George Colwell Oke, legal author, Chief Clerk to the Lord Mayor of London.] Four Autograph Letters Signed to George Edward Frere, alleging editorial prejudice, and discussing statute on weights and measures, killing of horses.

Author: 
George Colwell Oke (1821-1874), Chief Clerk to the Lord Mayor of London, author of legal works including ‘Oke’s Magisterial Formulist’ [George Edward Frere (1807--1887) of Roydon Hall, Norfolk]
Publication details: 
All four from 1861: 26 and 31 January; and 17 and 20 June. All four letters on letterhead of Mansion House Justice Room, London, EC.
£160.00

All signed ‘George C: Oke’. At the time of writing Oke was Assistant Clerk to the Lord Mayor, a position he had held since 1855; in 1864 he would assume the Chief Clerkship. For details of the recipient, barrister and F.R.S, elder brother of Sir Bartle Frere and nephew of Canning’s friend the satirist John Hookham Frere, see the Law Times, 31 December 1887. The four letters total 10pp, 12mo, all on letterheads with engraved arms of the City of London. All in good condition; very lightly aged; with folds. Closely and neatly written.

[Sir William Grant, Scottish lawyer and English judge.] Autograph Note in the third person, regarding 'the Old Fish Dinner party'.

Author: 
Sir William Grant (1752-1832), Scottish lawyer and English judge, Attorney General for Quebec, Member of Parliament, Master of the Rolls
Publication details: 
23 June 1829. Lincoln's Inn Fields [London].
£30.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 12 x 11 cm piece of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: 'Lincoln's Inn Fields | 23d. June 1829 | Sir Wm. Grant will have the honor of joining the Old Fish Dinner party on Saty. the 27th. of June.'

[Sir Frederick Pollock, distinguished jurist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('F. Pollock') to Dr Maurice Ernest, discussing the question of arms control, preferring the term 'Limitation of armaments' to 'disarmament'.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Pollock (1845-1937), distinguished jurist and Cambridge Apostle, author of 'The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I' [Maurice Ernest, biologist; arms control; disarmament]
Publication details: 
27 April 1907. On letterhead of the Athenaeum, Pall Mall [London].
£120.00

2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded several times. Small slip of paper with printed biographical entry on Pollock laid down at top left of first page. With several corrections giving the appearance of a draft, but from the papers of the recipient, the Austrian-born biologist Maurice Ernest (1872-1955). An interesting discussion of the question of arms control by a leading jurist in the years preceding the First World War. He begins by stating: 'Limitation of armaments is, as you rightly suggest, the only practical term.

[Ebenezer Elliott, 'the Corn Law Rhymer', poet and reformer.] Autograph Letter Signed, offering his poem 'Win-Hill' to the editor of the Monthly Magazine, stating that his 'children like it', and apologising for not having 'kept the politics out'.

Author: 
Ebenezer Elliott (1781-1849), 'the Corn Law Rhymer', poet and reformer who founded the Sheffield Mechanics Anti-Bread Tax Society [Monthly Magazine, London]
Publication details: 
No date [1833]. Sheffield.
£100.00

1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, but with thin strip torn away from head, including date. Laid down on piece of card. Large firm signature ('Ebenezer Elliott'). Begins: 'D Sirs - | I send you for the Monthly Magazine, Win-hill, or The Curse, a poem. My children like it, so I conclude it is not without merit. I wish I could have kept the politics out, but they would be in. If it should not suit you, you would very much oblige me by endeavouring to return it to me by the 15th of June next. I am, D Sirs, Yours very truly | Ebenezer Elliott'. 'Win-Hill; or, The Curse of God.

[Ebenezer Elliott, 'the Corn Law Rhymer', poet and reformer.] Autograph Letter Signed, offering his poem 'Win-Hill' to the editor of the Monthly Magazine, stating that his 'children like it', and apologising for not having 'kept the politics out'.

Author: 
Ebenezer Elliott (1781-1849), 'the Corn Law Rhymer', poet and reformer who founded the Sheffield Mechanics Anti-Bread Tax Society [Monthly Magazine, London]
Publication details: 
No date [1833]. Sheffield.
£100.00

1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, but with thin strip torn away from head, including date. Laid down on piece of card. Large firm signature ('Ebenezer Elliott'). Begins: 'D Sirs - | I send you for the Monthly Magazine, Win-hill, or The Curse, a poem. My children like it, so I conclude it is not without merit. I wish I could have kept the politics out, but they would be in. If it should not suit you, you would very much oblige me by endeavouring to return it to me by the 15th of June next. I am, D Sirs, Yours very truly | Ebenezer Elliott'. 'Win-Hill; or, The Curse of God.

[Sir Frederick Pollock, distinguished jurist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('F. Pollock') to Dr Maurice Ernest, discussing the question of arms control, preferring the term 'Limitation of armaments' to 'disarmament'.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Pollock (1845-1937), distinguished jurist and Cambridge Apostle, author of 'The History of English Law before the Time of Edward I' [Maurice Ernest, biologist; arms control; disarmament]
Publication details: 
27 April 1907. On letterhead of the Athenaeum, Pall Mall [London].
£120.00

2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded several times. Small slip of paper with printed biographical entry on Pollock laid down at top left of first page. With several corrections giving the appearance of a draft, but from the papers of the recipient, the Austrian-born biologist Maurice Ernest (1872-1955). An interesting discussion of the question of arms control by a leading jurist in the years preceding the First World War. He begins by stating: 'Limitation of armaments is, as you rightly suggest, the only practical term.

[ Bishop of Chichester; Maurice Swabey, legal expert ] Autograph Request for a legal Opinion, third Person, with AN Signed "JCicest." to "Dr Swabey [Maurice Swabey, legal authority, author of "Reports of Cases Decided in the Ecclesiastical Courts" ]

Author: 
Bishop of Chichester [John Buckner]
Publication details: 
Chichester House, 26 September 1810.
£450.00

Three pages, cr. 8vo, bifolium, dusty but good condition. He requests Dr Swabey's opinion of some points of ecclesiastical law, as follows: "Can the dignitaries of a Cathedral, who are bound by their stautes to 3 months attendance there; and by the old Law obliged to retire for the remainder of the year [...] to their pastoral cures, claim exemption from all the penalties of non-residence under the protection of [......] & if he be, is it necessary for him, in order to fulfil such Cathedral residence, regularly & daily to attend the service of the Choir.

[Oxford Circuit in the 1880s.] 27 sketches and caricatures by Lauriston Leonard Batten of barristers (including Lord Loveburn; C. J. Darling), judges and others, including several court scenes; for fellow barrister the future Sir Richard Harington.

Author: 
Lauriston Leonard Batten (1863-1934) [the Oxford Circuit in the late nineteenth century; Sir Richard Harington (1861-1931), Puisne Judge in the High Court of Justice at Fort William in Bengal]
Legal sketches
Publication details: 
The Oxford Circuit [Gloucester, Reading, Shrewsbury Assizes; Birmingham Assizes]. A few items dated to 1887, 1888, 1891, 1894.
£950.00
Legal sketches

Lauriston Leonard Batten studied at Trinity College, Cambridge (see his entry in Alum. Cantab.). He was admitted at the Inner Temple in 1882 and called to the bar four years later. KC, 1905. Bencher, 1914. The present collection is from the papers of his colleague on the Oxford Circuit, Sir Richard Harington (1861-1931), 12th baronet, who was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford. Called to the Bar in 1886, he practised on the Oxford Circuit before taking up an appointment as a Puisne Judge in the High Court of Justice at Fort William in Bengal in 1899.

[Lord Cairns [Hugh McCalmont Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns], Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain.] Printed warrant, signed by him 'Cairns C.', appointing John Amherst Philpott a Commissioner for Oaths.

Author: 
Lord Cairns [Hugh McCalmont Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns (1819-1885), Irish-born Conservative statesman, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain under Benjamin Disraeli
Publication details: 
12 June 1876.
£45.00

2pp, folio. On bifolium endorsed on reverse of second leaf. In fair condition, lightly creased and aged. Three folds. Embossed with five pound tax stamp at head. Printed in copperplate, with the details of the appointee 'John Amhust Philpott of Cranbrook in the County of Kent, Gentleman' filled-in in manuscript. Circular stamp of the Court of Justice at end of document with two signatures: 'Entd. | H. R. W.' and 'Entered 14th June 1876 | E W Williamson | Deputy Registrar of Solicitors'.

[Robert Ord, lawyer and politician.] Autograph Legal Opinion Signed ('Robt. Ord'), headed 'Case on Mr. Chrisr. Blacketts Will & Mr. Ords Opinion'.

Author: 
Robert Ord (1700–1778), English lawyer and politician, Chief Baron of the Scottish Exchequer [Christopher Blackett; Elizabeth Smart; Martha Maria Bellassyse; Durham; Northumberland]
Publication details: 
13 June 1750.
£90.00

1p, 8vo. Aged and worn, with closed tears, chipping and creasing. Several folds. The full heading reads: 'Case on Mr. Chrisr. Blacketts Will & Mr. Ords Opinion | See Copy of Will'. Endorsed on reverse: '1750 June 13th - | Copy | Mr. Ords Opinion on Mr. Blacketts Will'. Twenty-eight lines of neatly-written text, arranged as two queries, each with its answer. Contains a couple of corrections by Ord. The case concerns the various claims on a freehold of 'Mrs. Eliz: Smart and Mrs. Martha Maria Bellassyse' and 'Mrs. Blackett'. The various families in the case hailed from the north-east of England.

[James, Viscount Bryce, jurist and British Ambassador to the United States.] Typed Draft Signed ('Bryce') of joint letter 'To the Chairman of | The Government Distress Committee', criticising methods for relieving 'the distress caused by the war'.

Author: 
James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce (1838-1922), Ulster-born Liberal poltician, academic, British Ambassador to the United States
Publication details: 
No place or date. [London? During the early years of the First World War.]
£180.00

3pp, 8vo. On three leaves with hole in one corner where they were attached with stud. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The letter is clearly a draft of a public letter to be signed by a number of eminent individuals, and was presumably composed by Bryce himself. No date or place, simply headed: 'To the Chairman of | The Government Distress Committee.' It begins: 'Sir, | We whose names are appended hereto view with concern the methods that seem about to be adopted for the relief of the distress caused by the war.

[Francis Wharton, American educationalist and professor of criminal law.] Autograph Letter Signed to John N. Purviance, Auditor General, Harrisburg,

Author: 
Francis Wharton (1820-1889) of Philadelphia, American legal writer, historian, educationalist and professor of criminal law [General John Nelson Purviance (1810-1885), Auditor General, Harrisburg]
Publication details: 
[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.] 11 July 1850.
£120.00

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with fold lines and small hole made by breaking of the wafer. Addressed by Wharton on reverse to 'Hon. Jno. N. Purviance | Auditor Gen. | Harrisburg.' Endorsed: 'Francis Whatron, Esq. | Phila. | Ansd. 12 July 1850.' Wharton writes in a neat hand: 'Dear Sir | I enclose a note I have just received from Messrs Thomas and Rumsey - which please return. | Truly yrs | Francis Wharton'. Postscript reads: 'Let us know from you at your early convenience, as we are unable to advance a step till we know your views'.

[Thomas Hughes, author of 'Tom Brown's School Days'.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Tho. Hughes') to 'Mr. Kynnersley', discussing: meeting Rugby schoolfellow 'Blandford', educating an abandoned boy, his co-operative beliefs, Joseph Chamberlain.

Author: 
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), politician and judge, author of 'Tom Brown's School Days'
Publication details: 
ONE: 3 March 1884; 52 Promenade, Southport, Lancashire, on letterhead of the County Courts, Circuit No. 9, Chester. TWO: 30 November 1885. On letterhead of Uffington House, Chester.
£250.00

Both items in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: 3 March 1884. 1p, 12mo. Addressed to 'Dear Mr. Kynnersley'. Having received Kynnersley's undated letter he writes: 'I shall meet Blandford as you propose on the 11th. with very great pleasure. He was one of the heroes on whom I used to look with awe as a 3rd. form boy in 1834 in which year I joined & he I think left Rugby.' He is sitting at Congleton on the day of the meeting, and 'there is just a chance that some perverse suitor may be in full blast at my train time in which case (as I never leave a cause part heard) I may be late'.

[Sir Alexander Cockburn, Lord Chief Justice of England.] Autograph document, signed twice (both 'A. E. Cockburn'), giving verdict and sentence.

Author: 
Sir Alexander Cockburn [Sir Alexander James Edmund Cockburn, 12th Baronet] (1802-1880), Lord Chief Justice of England and Member of Parliament
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£40.00

On one side of an 8 x 10 cm piece of paper. Aged and worn, with light offsetting from another document. The two signatures (both 'A. E. Cockburn') are at the right hand corners. The verdict and sentence ('Guilty | 6 Mo. Imprisonment') are written between two lines centred at the left-hand margin. The purport of the document is unclear: it may be that the judge was required to record the verdict and sentence in this way for the clerk of the court.

[Macvey Napier, editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Macvey Napier'), inviting the recipient to dinner after not being able to see him due to his 'occupations during the winter'.

Author: 
Macvey Napier [born Napier Macvey] (1776-1847), Scottish jurist, editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Edinburgh Review, Professor of Conveyancing at the University of Edinburgh
Publication details: 
39 Castle Street [Edinburgh]. 26 March [no year].
£30.00

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with remains of stub adhering to edge on reverse. Folded twice. He begins by apologising that his 'occupations during the winter' have prevented him from seeing the unnamed recipient. If he is 'disengaged next Friday', Napier will be happy to see him 'at dinner at six o'clock, to meet a small party'. Laid down at the foot of the last page is a newspaper cutting of an article titled 'Death of Professor Napier'.

[Samuel Warren, Victorian novelist and barrister.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Samuel Warren') to the editor of the Courant newspaper, regarding his 'charge' to the grand jury at Hull, and a planned '“Reformatory School” for juvenile criminals' there.

Author: 
Samuel Warren (1807-1877), novelist, barrister and Member of Parliament, Recorder of Hull [nineteenth-century reformatory schools; juvenile criminals in Victorian England]
Publication details: 
Vittoria Hotel, Hull. 29 October 1854.
£120.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and lightly creased. Folded twice. Addressed 'To the Editor of the Courant'. Having been made Recorder of Hull in 1852, Warren begins his letter from that place: 'Sir, | Some friend has sent to me your paper of Thursday, last, containing a very kindly notice on my late Charge to the Grand Jury here.

[Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal, as Solicitor General.] Autograph Letter Signed ('N. C. Tindal') to [Lord Lyndhurst] Lord Chancellor, proposing his friend Rev. T. Foord Bowes for the living of Thwing, Yorkshire. With Lyndhurst's autograph endorsement.

Author: 
Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal (1776-1846), judge, Chief Justice of Common Pleas [Lord Lyndhurst [John Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst] (1772-1863), Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain]
Publication details: 
No place or date. [November 1827,]
£65.00

Tindal is notable for defending Queen Caroline in her 1820 adultery trial, and for introducing the special verdict 'Not Guilty by reason of insanity', in the case of Daniel M'Naghten. The letter is undated, but Tindal states that it was a written a week after the death of Rev. John Kirk, Rector of Thwing, which took place on 6 November 1827 (see Kirk's death notice, Gent. Mag., November 1827). 3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn. Folded four times. Tindal begins his letter: 'My dear Lord Chancellor, | I am requested by my friend, the Revd. T.

[George Combe, Scottish lawyer and phrenologist.] Autograph Signature ('Geo. Combe') cut from a letter addressed to Andrew Carmichael

Author: 
George Combe (1788-1858), Scottish phrenologist and lawyer, founder of the Edinburgh Phrenological Society
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

Irregular strip of paper, roughly 6 x 14 cm, one side bearing the valediction to a letter. In poor condition, aged and worn. Reads: 'With many thanks for your kind attention & with sincere regards, I remain | Sir | Your very Obedient Servant | Geo. Combe'. Crosswise on the reverse is part of Combe's addressing of the letter: 'Andrew Carmichael E[sq] | M. R. I. […] | [Pullis?] Ro[ad] | D[...]'.

[George Combe, Scottish lawyer and phrenologist.] Autograph Draft, Signed ('Geo Combe'), of part of article or paper on the 'leading object' of the punishment of offenders in prison.

Author: 
George Combe (1788-1858), Scottish lawyer and phrenologist, founder of the Edinburgh Phrenological Societ
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£250.00

Twelve lines of text, on one side of an 11 x 13 cm piece of paper, with 'Messrs. Neill & Co' deleted on the reverse. Part of a draft of an article or paper, with deletions and corrections, signed at foot 'Geo Combe'. The final text reads: 'but until a certain sum be redeemed by the labour, attended by the good conduct, of the prisoner.

[Thomas Denman [Lord Denman], judge and Lord Chief Justice.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Tho Denman'), expressing a strong desire to dine with a man of whose 'person' he is not 'sure'.

Author: 
Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman [Lord Denman] (1779-1854), judge, Lord Chief Justice 1832-1850
Publication details: 
Queen Square [London]. 'Sunday' [no date, but endorsed '14 Feb. 1811'].
£35.00

2pp, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to edge on reverse, which is endorsed '14 Febr. 1811 | T Denman'. Folded several times. The recipient is not named, but was clearly an individual of some standing, as Denman appears keen to dine with him.

[Thomas Denman [Lord Denman], judge and Lord Chief Justice.] Autograph Signature ('Denman') to frank addressed by him to Rev. William Plucknett of Alresford.

Author: 
Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman [Lord Denman] (1779-1854), judge, Lord Chief Justice 1832-1850
Publication details: 
'London Apl twentyeight 1835'.
£15.00

On one side of 7.5 x 12 cm panel cut from front of envelope. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse. Frank laid out in the prescribed fashion, with the red postal stamp ('FREE | 28AP28 | 1835'). Denman's signature ('Denman') is at bottom left, and he addresses as follows: 'London Apl twentyeight | 1835 | The Rev W Plucknett | Wincanton | Alresford | Somerset', with the last three lines deleted by Denman and replaced by 'Alresford | Hampshire.

[The Old Poor Law in the late Nineteenth Century.] Anonymous Manuscript Document, calling in forthright terms for the amending of 'The Plan of the Poor Laws of England', to weed out 'the loose Profligate and those who do not like work'.

Author: 
[The Old Poor Law; English Poor Laws; eighteenth-century poor relief]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [English, late eighteenth century.]
£450.00

2pp, foolscap 8vo. On the rectos of the leaves of a bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. On laid paper with indistinct watermark. The context of the document, with the capitalisation and spelling ('mechanick', 'shou'd', 'Publick', 'tyed down', 'lookt', 'Profitt'), points to a late eighteenth-century origin (certainly before the Speenhamland System and Michael Nolan's 1805 'Treatise of the Laws for the Relief and Settlement of the Poor'). No title or heading. A forthright document, whose rhetorical tone suggests that it was intended for public delivery.

[Sir James Alan Park, Georgian judge.] Two notebooks filled with modern manuscript transcriptions of 'Extracts from his Diary 1805-38'. With typescript of some of the transcriptions.

Author: 
Sir James Alan Park (1763-1838), Scottish judge in the English courts
Publication details: 
The entries from Park's diary dating from between 1805 and 1838. The transcriptions apparently made in the 1970s [in Kent?].
£350.00

Vol.1: [1] + 78pp. Vol.2: 8 [+ 8]pp. A total of 86pp of extracts from Park's twelve volumes of diaries. Unpublished. In two uniform stapled notebooks, small 4to, in orange card covers, with the following printed on the reverse of each: 'Manufactured by Supplies Department, Kent County Council'. Accompanied by eleven pages of typed transcriptions from the notebooks. Altogether in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Each volume titled in manuscript on the front cover, with the following shelfmark or entry number: '(M265)'.

[Lord Birkett, judge who officiated at the Nuremberg Trials.] Two Typed Letters Signed (both 'Norman Birkett') to 'Mr Burnett', i.e. Hugh Burnett, producer of BBC TV series 'Face to Face', regarding arrangements for his interview by John Freeman.

Author: 
Lord Birkett [William Norman Birkett, 1st Baron Birkett] (1883-1962), judge, a British representative at the Nuremberg Trials [Hugh Burnett (1924-2011), producer of BBC TV series 'Face to Face']
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Royal Courts of Justice, Strand, London, W.C.2. 25 May and 9 July 1953.
£56.00

'Face to Face', consisting of interviews of notable figures by John Freeman, was a television milestone, and Birkett's was the first interview in the series, broadcast on 4 February 1959. As Burnett recalled in his book of the series: 'Lord Birkett was the first guest on FACE TO FACE. It was a live transmission, as were most FACE TO FACE broadcasts, and much of the character and success of the whole new series depended on his candour and co-operation. We plotted together as we had often done in the past. He enjoyed broadcasting and he liked the challenge of attempting something new.

[C. L. F. de P. Barentin, Keeper of the Seals to Louis XVI of France.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Barentin'), in French, (to the Procureur Général?), regarding an appeal for clemency which Barentin intends to make to the king.

Author: 
Charles Louis François de Paule de Barentin (1738-1819), French statesman, Keeper of the Seals of France to Louis XVI at the time of the Revolution
Publication details: 
Dated from Versailles. [1789]
£250.00

2pp, 4to. On leaf tipped-in onto a piece of light-green card from an album, at head of which is attached a printed slip: 'BARENTIN C. L. F. de P. | Born 1738. Died 1819. | KEEPER OF THE SEALS TO LOUIS XVI.' The letter is undated, but the year '1789' has been added in pencil in a nineteenth-century hand. (That same year, following the Storming of the Bastille, Barentin was dismissed by the king.) Nineteen lines of closely-written text. Addressed at bottom left of first leaf to 'M le P Gl' (Monsieur le Procureur général?).

[Macvey Napier, editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Edinburgh Reiew.] Autograph Letter Signed to his former pupil Robert MacFarlane (the future Lord Ormidale), regarding his book on the 'Practice of the Jury Court'.

Author: 
Macvey Napier (1776-1847), Scottish solicitor, editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica and Edinburgh Review, Professor of Conveyancing at Edinburgh University [Robert MacFarlane, Lord Ormidale (1802-1880)]
Publication details: 
Castle St. [Edinburgh] 30 March 1837.
£180.00

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, folded twice, with traces of glue from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Signed 'Macvey Napier' and addressed to 'Robert Macfarlane Esq'. After thanking him for sending a copy of his work on the 'Practice of the Jury Court', he explains that, although the subject 'is of great importance', it 'lies out of that department of the Law' to which Macvey finds it necessary, 'under the pressure of other avocations', to limit his studies.

[Joseph Jekyll, lawyer, politician and wit.] Autograph jeu d'esprit, signed 'J Jekyll.', addressed to 'Mr Erskine' [i.e. Thomas Erskine, future Lord Chancellor], short poem regarding 'Mrs. Crewe' and Jekyll sitting 'on Lunacy'.

Author: 
Joseph Jekyll (1754-1837), Scottish lawyer, politician and wit [Lord Erskine [Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron Erskine] (1750-1823), Lord Chancellor]
Publication details: 
No place. Dated 30 June 1800.
£220.00

1p, 8vo. On bifolium addressed on verso of second leaf to 'Mr. Erskine'. In good condition, lightly aged. Autograph jeu d'esprit, signed at foot 'J. Jekyll. | June 30th. 1800'. A short poem reading: 'Tell Mrs. Crewe | I envy You. | But sit on Lu- | nacy. || Yet Mrs. Crewe | will think I'm stu | pid in my lu | -cid Intervals.' Jekyll's entry in the Oxford DNB concludes, perhaps unkindly: 'If he is remembered by later generations, it is chiefly as a wit. It has to be said, however, that his wit, which consisted in large measure of excruciating puns, has not lasted well.'

[William Guidott embezzles John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough.] Two printed documents: 'The Case of the Appellants' (including Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough) and 'The Respondent's Case', the latter carrying the judgement in a contemporary hand.

Author: 
[William Guidott (1671–1745) of Lincoln's Inn, lawyer to John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and MP for Andover, Hampshire, embezzler] C. Talbot; Tho. Reeve; P. Yorke; Tho. Lutwytche
Publication details: 
Both documents with docket title stating that the case is to be heard at the bar of the House of Lords, 4 March 1727. [ESTC tentatively dates the items to 1728.]
£420.00

The background to the two documents is given in Guidott's entry in the History of Parliament, which states that his uncle Anthony was 'for many years a lawyer to the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and described the latter in his will as “my particular good friend”. Guidott benefited from the connexion, succeeding his uncle as lawyer to the Marlboroughs. […] He proved a disappointment to the Duchess of Marlborough, however, as by 1711 he had begun the embezzlement of funds from the Marlborough estates for which he was sued in 1725.

[ French law bookseller's catalogue. ] Catalogue des Livres Nouveaux, de Fonds, en nombre et d'assortiment.

Author: 
B. Warée, oncle, Libraire de la Cour Royale, Paris [ French law bookseller ]
Publication details: 
Qui se trouvent à Paris, chez B. Warée, oncle, Libraire de la Cour Royale, au Palais de Justice, ou Cour de la Sainte-Chapelle, no. 13. Novembre, 1821. [ Lottin de S.-Germain, Imprimeur du Roi.' ]
£60.00

8pp., 8vo. Disbound and without wraps. In fair condition, lightly aged. Manuscript emendation on p.6. A law bookseller's careful and businesslike priced catalogue of unnumbered entries, several of which are accompanied by long descriptions by the author in small type. No copy in the Bibliotheque Nationale, nor on OCLC WorldCat or COPAC.

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