A Vade Mecum, Or, Table, Containing the Substance of Such Statutes.

London: Printed for Rich. Best, 1660. A Scarce JP Manual Yonge, Walter [1581?-1649]. [Staunford, Sir William (1509-1558)]. A Vade Mecum, Or, Table, Containing the Substance of Such Statutes; Wherein Any One, Or More Justices of the Peace are Inabled to Act, As Well in the Sessions, As Out of the Sessions of Peace. Together with an Epitome of Mr. Stamford's Pleas of the Crown. Corrected, And Amended. London: Printed for Rich. Best, 1660 [i.e. 1661]. [xxiv], 186, [2] pp. First leaf blank. Two parts with continuous pagination. Second part preceded by title page reading (in part) A Vade Mecum, And Cornu Copia. An Epitome of Master Stamfords Pleas of the Crown. 12mo. (5-1/2" x 3"). Contemporary sheep, blind rules to boards, blind fillets to spine, blind tooling to board edges, brass catches to fore-edge of rear board, straps lacking. Light rubbing and a few small stains to boards, chipping to spine ends with large chip to foot of spine, corners bumped and somewhat worn, no pastedowns, binding secured by cords, one of which is broken on rear hinge, armorial bookplate (of Hugh Cecil Lowther) tipped horizontally across inside of front board and first blank leaf, early ownership signature to first blank leaf (of Robert Carleton?, partially obscured by bookplate), early initials "R.C." to rear endleaf, recent bookplate (of William Allen Potter) opposite title page. Light toning to interior, text clean. $1,250. * Sixth (stated) edition. As suggested by its title, this is a manual for justices of the peace. The first part is arranged in tabular form. Each entry lists an offense, conditions for an action, the number of justices required to hear the case, the appropriate punishment and references to authorities. The second part is a condensed version of Staunford's Plees del Coron (1st. ed. 1557), a standard treatise on criminal law in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Published as the sixth edition, it is actually the third. The first, second and fourth were published in 1643, 1650 and 1663. Sweet & Maxwell list a 1620 edition titled Justices, Their Vade Mecum and Cornucopia, but it appears to be a ghost. Hugh Cecil Lowther [1857-1944], 5th Earl of Lonsdale, was a soldier, traveler and passionate sportsman. Lieutenant-Colonel William Allen Potter [1888-1953] was High Sheriff of Nottinghamshire and an important collector of manuals, almanacs and gui. …