Praxis Almae Curiae Cancellariae [Part I]: A Collection of Precedents

London: A. Roper and E. Wilkinson, 1694. 1st ed. The First Part of Brown's Well-Regarded Guide to Pleading [Brown, William]. Praxis Almae Curiae Cancellariae: A Collection of Precedents by Bill and Answer, Plea and Demurrer, In Causes of the Greatest Moment (Wherein Equity hath been Allowed) Which have been Commenced in the High Court of Chancery, For More Than 30. Years Last Past. With Appeals (In Several Cases of Great Difficulty) To the House of Peers in Parliament, And the Proceedings Thereupon. Also, A Compleat Collection of All the Writs and Processes Concerning the Same. Together with a Praeliminary Discourse, By Way of Rules, Succinctly and Methodically Drawn Up, Containing the Practice of the Said Court, In Every Particular Branch of the Equitable Part Thereof. London: Printed for A. Roper and E. Wilkinson, 1694. [xl], 336, 401-581, [3] pp. Text complete and continuous despite pagination. With a 3 pp. publisher catalogue. Octavo (7-1/2" x 4-1/2"). Contemporary calf, blind rules to boards, blind fillets along joints, raised bands and blind fillets to spine, gilt tooling to board edges. Light rubbing and a few scuffs, scratches and faint stains to boards, front board detaching at foot but secured by upper cords, moderate rubbing to extremities, rear joint just starting at foot, vertical crease to spine, chipping to spine ends, corners bumped, front pastedown loosening slightly at corner. Moderate toning to interior, somewhat lighter or heavier in places, light foxing in a few places, partial crack in text block between pp. 274-275, all leaves secure, lower corners of pp. 505-530 folded, early (illegible) ownership signature dated 1717 to title page. $850. * First edition. Brown was clerk of the Court of Common Pleas and the author of several pleading manuals. Held in high regard by Holdsworth, Praxis Almae Curiae Cancellariae is a complement to his Clerk's Tutor (1st ed. 1688). It was published in two parts, of which this is the first; the first part gives an outline of the rules of practice and discusses relevant precedents for pleading in the Court of Chancery and before the House of Lords. The second part was published in 1695, and subsequent editions appeared until 1725. Holdsworth, A History of English Law XII:179-180. English Short-Title Catalogue R214766.…