De Legibus & Consuetudinibus Angliae, Libri Quinq; In Varios..

1569. London, 1569. First edition. Folio.. London, 1569. First edition. Folio. PMM 89: "The Crown and Flower of English Medieval Jurisprudence" Bracton, Henry de [d. 1268]. De Legibus & Consuetudinibus Angliae, Libri Quinq; In Varios Tractatus Distincti, ad Diversorum et Vetustissimorum Codicum Collationem, Ingenti Cura, Nunc Primu[m] Typis Vulgati; Quorum Quid Cuiq; Insit, Proxima Pagina Demonstrabit. London: Apud Richardum Tottellum, An. do. 1569. With imprimatur "Cum priuilegio" at foot of title. [xvi], 172, 175-444 ff. Complete. Folio (11-1/4" x 7-3/4"; 28.6 x 19.7 cm). Nineteenth-century diced calf, gilt rules to boards, gilt fillets, ornaments and title to spine, gilt rules to board edges, gilt inside rules, marbled endpapers, ribbon marker. Light rubbing to boards, faint dampstain to front board, moderate rubbing to extremities, front joint starting at head, rear joint cracked, corners bumped and somewhat worn, armorial bookplate, "Ex Libris Munden," to front pastedown. Attractive large woodcut decorated initials. Light toning to text, somewhat heavier in places, light foxing and finger smudges to some leaves, some fading to text of ff. 1 and 2. A handsome copy of a landmark work with an interesting provenance. $9,500. * First edition. Written between 1250 and 1256, De Legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae [The Laws and Customs of England] is the first treatise on English law. A systematic work, it emphasizes the separation of procedural and substantive matters and also cites cases as sources of at least intellectual, if not formal, authority. Both the principles formulated in this work and its use of precedents determined the development of English law and established the method adopted by Littleton and Coke. In Maitland's words, it is "the crown and flower of English medieval jurisprudence" and "by far the greatest of our medieval law books." This copy belonged to Arthur Henry Holland-Hibbert, 3rd Viscount Knutsford [1855-1935], of Munden House, Hertfordshire. He served as both a justice of the peace and High Sheriff of Hertfordshire. His bookplate was engraved by Sir Henry Badeley, who designed bookplates for a number of important clients, including the House of Lords Library. Maitland, Collected Papers II:43. Dauchy [et al.], Eds., The Formation and Transmission of Western Legal Culture: 150 Books that Made the Law in the Age of Printi.