The Practice of a Justice of Peace, Containing the Statutes Which.

2 Volumes. London, 1762. First edition. Cunningham's Practice of a Justice of Peace Cunningham, T[imothy] [d.1789]. The Practice of a Justice of Peace: Containing the Statutes Which Give Jurisdiction to that Magistrate. With a Greater Variety of Precedents Formed the Words of the Acts of Parliament than in Any Other Book Extant. Compiled and Published Under the Direction of the Right Honourable Lord Ward. London: Printed by E. Richardson and C. Lintot, 1762. Two volumes. iv, 528; [ii], 561, [87] pp. Octavo (8" x 5"). Contemporary calf, rebacked in period style, blind rules to boards, blind fillets along joints, raised bands and lettering pieces to spines, hinges mended. Light rubbing, faint stains and minor scuffing to boards, heavier rubbing to board edges, corners bumped and somewhat worn, early armorial bookplates to front pastedowns. Moderate toning, light foxing in places. Early owner signature of Penry Williams to head of title pages, interiors otherwise clean. $950. * First edition. "As the furnishing of justices of the peace with a sufficient variety of precedents, formed upon the words of the acts of parliament, was the sole motive for compiling the following sheets; so the reader may be assured that no forms are published, but such as appear to the compiler to be accurate. (.) The statutes under each title are inserted in a chronological order; which may serve to give the reader an idea of the progressive improvements made in the statute law, and be useful for many other purposes" (iii). Cunningham was a member of the Middle Temple and the author of an important law dictionary. A second edition of his JP manual was published in 1769; a supplemental volume to this edition followed in 1770. Two men named Penry Williams, father and son, of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, served as justices of the peace for Brecknockshire. It is very likely that one or both men owned and used this book. Nicholas, Annals and Antiquities of the Counties and County Families of Wales I:121-122). English Short-Title Catalogue T140365.…