The First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England

Coke, Sir Edward; Hargrave, Francis, Butler C.

Publication Date: 1788

About this Item

London: Printed by T. Wright for E. Brooke, 1788. First Critical Edition of Coke on Littleton, With Notes by Hargrave and Butler [C]Coke, Sir Edward [1552-1634]. Hargrave, Francis [1741?-1821], Editor. Butler, Charles [1750-1832], Editor. Hale, Sir Matthew [1609-1676]. [Finch, Heneage, Earl of Nottingham (1621-1682)]. The First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England or, A Commentary upon Littleton. Not the Name of the Author Only, But of the Law Itself. With the Addition of Notes and References From the Beginning to Folio 195 Inclusive, by Francis Hargrave, And From Folio 196 to the End, With the Preface and Index to the Notes, by Charles Butler and an Analysis of Littleton. London: Printed by T. Wright, For E. Brooke (Successor to Messrs. Worrall and Tovey), 1788. [xxii], xx, [54] pp., 395 ff., [10] pp. Lacking errata leaf. Table of Heads misbound between p. [54] Fol 1, Folding table of consanguinity misbound between pp. [xviii] and [xvix]. Folio (14-1/2" x 9"). Modern red cloth with gilt decorated spine and black gilt titled spine label, endpapers renewed. Light toning to interior, faint dampstaining to edges of text block with crinkling and, in some places, light soiling, moderate edgewear and soiling to preliminaries and final few leaves of text, moderate edgewear and a few creases and tears to folding table with no loss to text or image, contemporary annotations and underlining in a few places. $500. * Thirteenth edition, the first critical edition of this landmark work. The four books of Coke's Institutes are considered the first textbooks on modern common law. They are virtually a legal encyclopedia. The importance of this work is indicated by its inclusion in Printing and the Mind of Man, which notes: "[if] Bracton first began the codification of the common law, it was Coke who completed it. In the Institutes (.) the tradition of the common law from Bracton to Littleton, whose name Coke's commentary made famous, firmly established itself as the basis of the constitution of the Realm." Refined by later editors, Hargrave and Butler's edition became the standard version of this landmark work. Printing and the Mind of Man 126. English Short-Title Catalogue T117845.

Seller Inventory # 78896

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England
• Publication Date: 1788
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: London: Printed by T. Wright for E. Brooke, 1788.
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Seller catalogs:
  • Antiquarian & Scholarly