The First Part of the Justice of the Peace His Companion; Or, A.

A Primary Source for Many Subsequent Manuals Blackerby, Samuel [fl. 1720-1738]. Blackerby, Nathaniel. The First Part of the Justice of Peace His Companion; Or, A Summary of All the Acts of Parliament, Whereby One, Two, Or More Justices of the Peace, Are Authorized to Act, Not Only In, But Out of the Sessions of Peace. Begun by Samuel Blackerby, Alphabetically Digested, And Continued to the End of the Last Session of Parliament, 1734. With an Exact Table, By Nathaniel Blackerby, Esq. [London]: Printed by E. and R. Nutt, 1734. [xxiv], 540 pp. 12mo. (5-1/4" x 3"). Contemporary calf, blind rules to boards, blind fillets along joints, raised bands and black-stamped initial "J" to spine, lettering piece lacking, gilt tooling to board edges. Light rubbing to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities, joints cracked, chipping to head of spine, corners bumped, front hinge cracked, rear hinge starting, faint offsetting to margins of endleaves. A few, mostly partial, cracks to text block, all leaves secure, light toning, internally fresh. $300. * Fifth edition. With a digested index. The first edition of Blackerby's Justice of the Peace, His Companion appeared in 1711. A companion volume, Cases in Law, which carries the subtitle "The Second Part of the Justice of Peace's Companion," followed in 1717. Both were held in high esteem, went through several editions and served as primary sources for many subsequent manuals. Justice of the Peace is arranged alphabetically by topic. Such entries as Apprentices, Bastardy, Gaming Houses, Overseers of the Poor, Papists and Popish Recusants and Witchcraft offer a unique perspective on rural English society during the early 1700s. English Short-Title Catalogue T62609.…