A Commentary on the Mining Legislation of Congress, With.

Early Synthesis of Federal Mining Law Following the Mining Acts of 1866 and 1872 Weeks, Edward P. A Commentary on the Mining Legislation of Congress, With a Preliminary Review of the Repealed Sections of the Mining Act of 1866, The Whole Constituting a Complete Statement of the Law and Practice Relative to Mines, Mining, And Mineral Lands, Under United States Laws, As Construed by the General Land Office, The Secretary of the Interior, And the Courts from 1866 to the Present Time. San Francisco: Sumner, Whitney & Co., 1877. xvi, 451 pp. Octavo (9" x 5-1/2"). Contemporary sheep, boards framed in blind, raised bands, red and black lettering pieces to spine. Light rubbing and a few minor scratches and stains to boards, moderate wear to extremities, hinges partially cracked. Bookseller's ticket of Sumner Whitney, early owner signature of D.H. Cowden (dated 1878) and later owner stamp of Park Chamberlain to front pastedown; brief shelf inscription to front free endpaper. Moderate toning, faint marginal dampstaining in places, chiefly at the foot of the text block, with some offsetting to the preliminaries and final leaves. $350. * First edition of one of the earliest substantial treatises on the federal law governing mineral lands in the United States, written in the wake of the Mining Acts of 1866 and 1872 and the rapid expansion of western mining. Weeks sought to assemble and systematize the then scattered statutory, administrative, and judicial authorities governing mining claims and mineral lands, drawing together the legislation of Congress with rulings of the General Land Office, decisions of the Secretary of the Interior, and relevant court opinions. Intended as a practical handbook for lawyers and mining interests, the work provides an early and comprehensive exposition of the legal framework that developed alongside the western mining economy in the post-Civil War period. Later expanded editions appeared in 1880 and 1900; the present first edition is scarce. OCLC records 7 copies, only 3 in law libraries (UC Hastings, Wisconsin State Law Library, Yale). …