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

Dublin: Printed for John Archer, 1794. 3rd ed. A Comprehensive Eighteenth-Century Treatise on Insurance, This Scarce Dublin Edition Not Listed in the English Short-Title Catalogue Weskett, John [c.1730-1800]. 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 John Archer, No. 80, Dame-Street, 1794. [vi], lxxxiv, 612, [4] pp. Octavo (8-3/4" x 5-1/4"; 22.22 x 13.33 cm). Later library cloth, red and black calf lettering pieces and paper location label to spine, endpapers renewed, hinges reinforced with cloth. Light soiling and shelfwear, heavier wear to black lettering piece, preliminaries partially detached and moderately edgeworn, crack at rear of text block between final two leaves of text, some edgewear to final leaf of text. Moderate toning to interior, library markings to title page. A good copy. $300. * Third (designated) edition, the final edition of this work. The book begins with a critical 80-page essay on insurance law that proposes several reforms. Arranged alphabetically by topic, 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. Published in London in 1781, it was reissued in Dublin in 1783 and 1794 as the second and third editions. A German translation was published in two parts in 1782 (A-L) and 1791 (M-W). The essay was also published separately in London in 1779. All of these are scarce. OCLC locates 4 copies of the 1794 edition in North American law libraries (Duke, San Francisco Law Library, SMU, University of Pennsylvania). Not in the English Short-Title Catalogue.…