Commentaries on the Law of Marriage and Divorce. 2nd. ed. Boston, 1856

1856. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1856.. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1856. With An Early Catalogue from H.H. Bancroft & Co. Bishop, Joel Prentiss [1814-1901]. Commentaries on the Law of Marriage and Divorce, of Separations without Divorce, and of the Evidence of Marriage in all Issues; Embracing also Pleading, Practice, and Evidence in Divorce Causes, with Forms. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1856. 8, xxiv, 768 pp. Includes eight-page publisher catalogue. Octavo (9-1/2" x 5-3/4"). Contemporary sheep, black-stamped rules to boards, black-stamped fillets and red lettering piece to spine, early bookseller ticket (of H.H. Bancroft) to front pastedown, four-page H.H. Bancroft catalogue dated 1858 bound between Little, Brown catalogue and title page. Light rubbing and a few minor scuffs to boards, moderate rubbing to extremities, spine somewhat darkened and gatored, corners lightly bumped and negligibly worn, owner signature ("J. Temple") to front free endpaper. Light toning to interior, light foxing to a few places, early ink and pencil marks to margins of several leaves. $150. * Second edition. After commencing practice in Boston, Bishop devoted his leisure to the collection of material for a treatise on the law of domestic relations. When it was published in 1852 the work immediately attracted attention for its independent standpoint and fresh approach to the subject. It went on to become one of the textbooks "which went far to shape the law... [and which] were standard to the end of the century" (Pound). An interesting feature of this copy is the 4-pp. priced catalogue for H.H. Bancroft and Co., one of the most important bookselling firms in early California. Dated 1858, it was the second catalogue issued by the firm and marked a significant change in its business model. As the catalogue notes, Bancroft had an exclusive contract to sell law books from Little, Brown & Co, such as the present title (available from Bancroft for $5). This innovative agency model "relieved [Bancroft] of the need to maintain a large stock of expensive law books and...required customers to patronize his business if they wanted to obtain locally produced books from Little, Brown" (Hoeflich & Moreland). Pound, The Formative Era of American Law 140-141. Hoeflich & Moreland, Gold Mines and Law Books: H.H. Bancroft's California Bookshop 22. Cohen, Bibliography of Early American Law 4752.