GREAT SEAL ACT (1689). An Act for Enabling Lords Commissioners for the Great Seal, to Execute the Office of Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper.

Folio (10.5 inches). 1 William & Mary, Chapter 21. General title leaf + pages 375-380. Woodcut device, headband, and decorative initial. Text in Black Letter. Neatly extracted from a bound volume and expertly mended. When James II fled London, he threw the Great Seal of England into the River Thames in an attempt to sabotage Williams incoming government (as no lawful parliament could be summoned without it). The Great Seal was eventually recovered and used for a short time before being replaced by a new Great Seal depicting William and Mary sitting together on the throne. Serious difficulties, however, arose respecting the jurisdiction and precedence of the Lords Commissioners for administering the Great Seal. To prevent complications, this Act was passed to ensure that the Lords Commissioners for the Great Seal would have the same powers as the Lord Chancellor or Lord Keeper: two being required to put the Great Seal to any instrument, and one being authorized to hear interlocutory motions. The Great Seal of England was used to symbolise Sovereign approval of important state documents and laws. Sealing wax was melted in a metal mould and impressed with a wax figure and attached to the document by a cord or ribbon.…