A Complete Digest of the Theory, Laws, And Practice of Insurance.

Dublin: Printed for Elizabeth Lynch, 1783. A Comprehensive Eighteenth-Century Treatise on Insurance Printed by Elizabeth Lynch, With a Notable Rhode Island Association Weskett, John. A Complete Digest of the Theory, Laws, And Practice of Insurance; Compiled from the Best Authorities in Different Languages, Which are Quoted and Referred to Throughout the Work; And Arranged in Alphabetical Order, Under Many Select Heads, With Ample References, And a General Index;Affording Immediate and Full Information, on Every Distinct Matter, Question, Or Point. With a Preliminary Discourse; Wherein are Delineated the Very Great Disorders which Prevail in Affairs on Insurance; Their Principal Causes Explained; And Methods Proposed for Better Regulation and Prevention. Dublin: Printed for Elizabeth Lynch, 1783. [vi], lxxxiv, 612, [4] pp. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5-1/4"). Later library cloth, calf lettering piece and paper location label to spine, endpapers added. Light soiling, corners lightly bumped and worn, front board detached, rear joints and hinge starting, a few partial cracks to text block. Light browning and occasional light foxing, faint dampstaining to margins in a few places, early owner signature of Jabez Bowen and later library stamp to title page, library markings to verso. $450. * Dublin issue of the second edition. The book begins with a critical 80-page essay on insurance law that proposes several reforms. The main body is a remarkably comprehensive legal and historical digest concentrating on marine insurance, but also discussing life and fire insurance. There are frequent references to America, and considerable discussion of international law, the laws of war and the work of such important economists and theorists as Cantillon, Child, Cary, Postlethwayt, De Moivre and Price. A second, and final, London edition was published in 1783. Dublin reprints were issued in 1783 and 1794, a German translation in 1782-1787. The critical 80-page essay was also published separately in 1789. All of these are scarce. Jabez Bowen [1739-1815] was a Rhode Island shipper, slave trader, politician, and judge. A militia colonel during the Revolution, he was later deputy governor of Rhode Island, chief Justice of the state supreme court and the chancellor of Brown. All editions of this book are scarce, as is the essay. Concerning the 1783 Dublin edition, OCLC locates 10 copies in Nort.…