Examen del Derecho de Vida Y Muerte Egercido por los Gobiernos...

1838. Barcelona: Imprenta de Ignacio Estivill, 1838.. Barcelona: Imprenta de Ignacio Estivill, 1838. Scarce Essay on Capital Punishment By a Nineteenth-Century Cuban Lawyer [Ayala Y Aguilar, Jose de (1802-1876]. Examen del Derecho de Vida Y Muerte Egercido por los Gobiernos. Escrito por un Cubano. Barcelona: Imprenta de Ignacio Estivill, 1838. viii, 277, [3] pp. Octavo (7" x 4-1/2"). Recent stiff marbled wrappers, original paper title label to spine, original publisher wrappers and endleaves retained. Negligible light rubbing to spine ends and corners, a few tiny chips to spine label. Moderate toning to interior, minor creases and corner folds to some leaves at beginning and end of text, light soiling to original wrappers and title page, a few faint marks in pencil to original front wrapper. $300. * First edition. This essay by a Cuban lawyer condemns capital punishment, except in certain circumstances. Carefully argued, it draws on several important eighteenth and nineteenth century writings on penology reform from such authors as Rousseau, Beccaria and Bentham (with particular attention to his Panopticon.) Its later chapters, which draw on a wide range of Roman and early-modern jurists, address broader questions about the relationship between law and society. The second and final edition of this work was published in 1858. Both editions of this work are scarce. OCLC locates 10 copies of the first in North America, 1 in a law library (University of Georgia). Santa Cruz y Mallen, Historia de Familias Cubana 5:312. Palau, Manual del Librero Hispano-Americano 80905.