An Essay on Criminal Jurisprudence [Pt 1 from the Pamphleteer ONLY]

1821. A Pure, Speedy, and Cheap, Administration of Justice" Beaumont, J[ohn]. T[homas]. Barber [1774-1841]. An Essay on Criminal Jurisprudence, With the Draft of a New Penal Code; In Which It is Attempted to Define Crimes and Offences with Clearness and Brevity; To Render Penalties Proportionate and Consistent, And to Promote a Pure, Speedy, And Cheap, Administration of Justice. From the Pamphleteer, Vol. XVIII, No. 35. London: [Printed by A.J. Valpy], 1821. [67]-80 [also numbered (1)-14] pp. Octavo (8-1/4" x 5-1/4"). Disbound pamphlet. Light toning, light foxing to a few leaves, ink library stamp to verso of title page. $50. * Only edition, issued as the first of a three-part serial in the Pamphleteer and also separately by Valpy, the Pamphleteer's publisher, in 1821. Beaumont was an army officer, artist and financier who served as a justice of the peace for London and Middlesex beginning in 1820. In this work, he outlines a new system of criminal jurisprudence, primarily concerned with efficiency and creating more unpleasant conditions to deter crime. The first part criticizes recent reforms to the prison system, particularly on the basis of cost, remarking that the "county gaol of Middlesex, built on the modern system of spaciousness and comfort, and called 'The House of Correction;'...might with more truth be called the 'House of Attraction or Seduction.'