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Notably Handsome Manuscript Based on an Invaluable Resource for Land Conveyances [Manuscript]. [Phayer (Phaer), Thomas (1510?-1560)]. A Booke of Presidents or Paterne of Instruments or Forme of Makinge of Ordinarie Conveyances Evidences, And Writinges Necessarie to be Used:- For Such As Have a Desire to Knowe:-Or Have Occation to Use necessarie Instrum[en]te Meete for that Purpose. Collected and Writen by J.P. and Are Easile to be Found Out by the Alphabeticall Table of this Booke. [England (London?), c.1645]. [5], [130] of 158 ff. 33 numbered leaves lacking, leaf containing fol. 126 laid in, 7 leaves partially lacking, 7 leaves (with various sizes) laid in at rear of text. Folio (13-1/4" x 9"; 33.6 x 22.8 cm). Contemporary sheep, blind rules to boards, fragments of thong ties to fore-edges. Moderate rubbing, some stratches and a few faint stains to boards, heavier rubbing to extremities with wear to board edges, front joint starting at ends, joints cracked. Light toning to interior, bleed-through in places, burn-through on fol. 25, light wear to outer corners of text block, faint dampstaining and edgewear to fore-edges of text block from title page to p. 16, content in neat, often ornate, calligraphic hand within ruled borders. A notably handsome manuscript formbook. $4,500. First published in 1543, Thomas Phaer's Booke of Presidents was the first dedicated collection of English conveyancing forms and the most significant work on land law since Littleton's Tenures. A vital legal standard for generations, it passed through some 35 editions and issues, culminating in its final seventeenth-century appearances in 1641 and 1663. Credited to "J.P." on the title page, this neat manuscript formbook is based on a mid-seventeenth-century edition of Phaer's work, its title loosely follows those of the later printed editions. The volume bears internal evidence of its era of production: two text leaves are dated 1642 and 1655 respectively, including one featuring a large, elegant calligraphic initial dated 1642. Five of the supplemental leaves laid in at the rear are actual legal documents dated 1646, 1649, 1658, 1660, and 1693. Likely the work of an aspiring practitioner or student, the volume is a fair copy, carefully compiled and indexed. The presence of several distinct, highly disciplined court hands suggests the co.
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