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12mo. (6-1/2" x 4"). Rare. A Superb Copy with Distinguished Country-House Provenance: From the Library at Ombersley Court (Barons Sandys) Jacob, Giles [1686-1744]. A Law Grammar; Or Rudiments of the Law: Compiled From The Grounds, Principles, Maxims, Terms, Words of Art, Rules and Moot Points of Our Law, In a New, Easy, And Very Concise Method. For the Particular Instruction of All Young Gentlemen, Either at Schools, Colleges, Or the Universities, Or if Privately Educated, Attornies Clerks, And Other Persons; Whereby They Will Acquire a Great Deal More Useful Law-Learning, Than by Any of the Books Yet Publish'd. [London]: Printed by Henry Lintot, (Assignee of Edw. Sayer, Esq;) for Aaron Ward, At the King's Arms in Little Britain, 1744. 12mo. [ii], iv, 138, [6] pp. Publisher advertisement facing title page. (6-1/2" x 4"; 10 cm x 16.5 cm). Contemporary sheep, boards ruled in blind, spine with raised bands and blind fillets. Moderate rubbing and wear to extremities, small nicks and scuffs to boards, corners bumped, joints and hinges starting. Penciled shelf mark to front free endpaper. Light toning, somewhat heavier in places. A very good copy, the text notably fresh. $1,250. * First edition. A compact but ambitious introduction to English law, designed for a wide readership extending from university students to attorneys' clerks and the "privately educated." Characteristic of Jacob's practical and commercial sensibility, the work distills foundational doctrines, terminology and maxims into an accessible format; it proved enduringly popular, reaching eleven subsequent editions by 1792. It belongs with his other successful efforts to democratize legal knowledge, including The Common Law Common-Placed (1726) and Every Man His Own Lawyer (1736). From the library of the Barons Sandys (second and third creations), housed at Ombersley Court, Worcestershire-one of the notable country-house libraries of England. The original owner was likely Samuel Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys (1695-1770), Whig politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Justice in Eyre. Though not formally trained in the law, Sandys occupied offices in which a practical command of legal principles was advantageous, making a manual of this kind entirely apposite. Rare in commerce; the second copy we have handled. English Short-Title Catalogue.
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