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New Orleans: Printed by Benj. Levy & Co., 1823. Livingston Solicits Opinions on His Penal Code for Louisiana Livingston, Edward [1764-1836]. Extracts from the Projected Penal Code: Containing the Fourth Section of the Thirteenth Chapter, Third Book: Entitled "Of Offences Which Affect Written Contracts." So Many of the Definitions Contained in the First Book as Apply to Terms Employed in the Said Chapter. That Part of the Fourth Book which Contains the Forms of Proceeding. And of the Fifth Book Which Gives the Rules of Evidence, Applicable Exclusively to Those Offences. To Which is Prefixed an Extract from a Preliminary Discourse, Indicating the Changes that Have Been Made, And Assigning the Reasons for Adopting Them. The Whole Intended to Exemplify the Manner in Which the Projected Code will be Executed, By Exhibiting in One View the Several Parts, Which Bear Upon a Single Class of Offences. New Orleans: Printed by Benj. Levy & Co., 1823. 31, [2] pp. Folio (12-1/4" x 7-1/2"). Recent period-style quarter calf over marbled boards, gilt title and date to spine. Light toning to text, negligible light foxing in a few places. Ex-library. Small inkstamp to head of title page. $1,500. * Only edition. Livingston produced this set of excerpts when he was completing the draft of his System of Penal Law, Prepared for the State of Louisiana. He sent copies to James Kent and other distinguished jurists, as well as several politicians and journalists, in order to "point out such of the many errors I must have committed, as you may discover; and suggest such alterations and improvements as may occur to you" [2]. Submitted to the Louisiana state assembly in 1824, Livingston's code marked an epoch in the broad international movement for penal reform. Profoundly influenced by Bentham, it stressed prevention over vengeance in every facet of his work. Never enacted, it nevertheless established itself as one of the great standards for other reformers. Hicks marvels at the scope and clear organization of this code and notes that Bentham, Hugo, Lafayette, Story, Marshall, Madison, Kent and Jefferson considered it "the most comprehensive and enlightened system of criminal law that has ever been presented to the world." OCLC locates 12 copies, 6 in law libraries (George Washington University, Harvard, Loyola, Tulane, University of Michigan, Yale). Hicks, Men. Seller Inventory # 66597
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