The Lives of the Chief Justices of England. 3 Vols. First editions

1857. London: John Murray, 1849-1857.. London: John Murray, 1849-1857. Campbell, John, Lord [1779-1861]. The Lives of the Chief Justices of England. From the Norman Conquest Till the Death of Lord Mansfield. London: John Murray, 1849-1857. First edition. 3 volumes. xix, 588; xii, 584; xiv, 413 pp. Octavo (8-1/2" x 5-1/2"). Original maroon cloth with gilt stamped front covers and blind frames to boards. Deckle fore-edges. Moderately worn and soiled with fading to boards. Corners lightly bumped. Light rubbing to extremities, faint offsetting to front free endpapers. Light toning to interiors, light foxing in a few places. Publisher's catalogue to endpapers of volumes one and three, and end of volume two [1-16 pp]. Internally clean. A good set. $150. * Thorough biographies with marginal notes and footnotes "trace the history of those who had illustrated the department of English jurisprudence" (from the Preface). "[These volumes] form the greatest existing storehouse, however the contents have been acquired, of legal anecdote and biography. If his jocosity is not always seasonable, or in taste, it seldom fails to amuse.": Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University (1953) 151.