The Lawbook Exchange has issued a catalogue entitled English Law, 16th-20th Centuries. This refers to laws of England, rather than law books written in English. There are some books of English law translated to other languages, though most, naturally, are in the mother tongue. It should also be remembered that America was controlled by England until at least 1776, so many of these books are effectively compilations of American jurisprudence as well. And, even after the Revolution, the old law prevailed in America for a long time. Here, now, are some items concerned with English law through the ages.
America has endured four presidential assassinations (and numerous attempts), England but one successful assassination, that of Prime Minister Spenser Perceval. Perceval served as PM from 1809 until his assassination on May 11, 1812. It was a difficult period. There were battles with Napoleonic France, King George III was going crazy, and the War of 1812 with America was only a month away. Meanwhile, John Bellingham, a failed merchant who had spent some time until 1809 in a Russian prison, was seething over his inability to get compensation from the British government, which he somehow imagined owed him for his troubles. He decided to teach it a lesson for ignoring the claims of an ordinary citizen such as himself. He went to Parliament, waited for Perceval to pass through the lobby, and shot him. He was immediately arrested and by May 15, the trial was commenced. Bellingham argued that his action was justified, counsel pointed to insanity, but the Judge was unmoved. Bellingham was convicted and three days later hanged. There was no waiting around to execute (literally) such judgments then. Item 86 is The Trial of John Bellingham, For the Assassination of the Right Honourable Spencer Perceval...In the Lobby of the House of Commons, On Monday the 11th May, 1812...To Which is Added, An Account of Bellingham’s Execution, On Monday, May 18. Priced at $500.
I doubt there is any more important work in English law than this one: Commentaries on the Laws of England by William Blackstone. It is better known by the common name of Blackstone's Commentaries. This copy is a sixth edition from 1774, the first published in London. The Lawbook Exchange describes it as “the most influential publication in the history of modern Anglo-American law.” What Blackstone did was to take the common law, the history of centuries of scattered cases and legal decisions, and weave them into a comprehensive whole. He made the law understandable, and in so doing, provided the guidance necessary to reach logical conclusions in future cases. Item 8. $7,500.
The law is serious business, but not even the law is above satire. Blackstone was the victim of parody in this item, The Comic Blackstone. It comes in four parts in two volumes: I. Of the Rights of Persons, II. Real Property, III. Private Wrongs, IV. Of Public Wrongs and Their Remedies. The author was Gilbert Abbott A'Beckett, himself a barrister. It follows the real Blackstone but with humor rather than actual laws. According to a contemporary review in the London Times, “Few could have travestied so well the real Blackstone, following it literally step by step.” The illustrations were provided by George Cruikshank, the leading caricaturist of the day, whose illustrative humor matched Abbott's words. These are 1844 first editions of each part. Item 1. $950.
The law was not very tender-hearted when this broadside was printed circa 1800. It is headed, “The Trials and Execution of John Attel for Burglary, And William Hatchman, Charlotte Newman, And Mary Ann James for Forgery, Who were Executed this Morning, Before the Debtor’s Door, Old Bailey.” Forgery is a bad thing and certainly those who are involved with old books know that well, but execution? The broadside explains, “the four unfortunates” were “ordered for execution, three for the unpardonable crime of forgery, and of them, shocking to relate, two are young women, and the fourth for burglary and cruel treatment to an old woman.” The writer does note that they have been “truly penitent,” but in those days, penitence didn't get you a lighter sentence. The message ends with advice from one of the women in a letter to her mother, “tell my dear brothers and sisters that my dying request is, that they will take warning from my untimely end, and reverence the Sabbath, which I have neglected; -pray to God that he may be my support and comfort in the hour of death; -and that he may be yours is the earnest prayer of your wretched daughter.” Item 12. $2,000.
This is a pamphlet, but the title alone makes its message very clear: “Honesty in Distress; But Relieved by No Party. Giving an Account How She Went to Court, But was Scorned and Slighted; She Went Next to Westminster-Hall, Which Set the Lawyers in an Uproar; Then She Went to the City, Making Her Complaint to the Linen-Draper and Apothecary, Grocer and Hosier, Baker and Butcher, Vintner and Victualler, Pawnbroker, Usurer and Miller, And Found No Relief. Afterwards She Went to the Exchange Amongst the Merchants; But They Sent Her to the Priests, Who Said it was Enough for Them to Teach; Therefore They had No Relief for Her:- So Poor Honesty, Being Slighted by All, At Last Died a Miserable Death, For Want of Relief!!” Has anything changed since this was published in 1810? Item 98. $450.
The Lawbook Exchange may be reached at 732-382-1800 or law@lawbookexchange.com. Their website is www.lawbookexchange.com.
