(HALE, Sir Matthew.) Historia Placitorum Coronae, The History of the Pleas of The Crown.

£975.00

Now first published from his Lordship's Original Manuscript, and the several References to the Records examined by the Originals, with large Notes. By Sollom Emlyn.

First Edition. Two large paper folio volumes (39 * 24 cm), engraved portrait frontispiece in Volume 1, Vol. 1: 710pp, Vol. 2: 612pp. Bound in contemporary calf, re-backed, red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt. Printed by E. and R. Nutt, and R .Gosling (London) for F. Gyles, T. Woodward, and C. Davis, 1736.

A near fine example.

Sir Matthew Hale (1609-1676), an English Lord Chief Justice, is regarded as one of the greatest legal authorities from the 17th century. His judicial doctrines have continued to influence the opinions of his legal successors and remain widely read. These volumes were the first effort to provide a history of English criminal law and remain Hale’s most famous work. The first volume examines excuses for crime such as infancy and madness, before examining more important crimes and statutory felonies. The second volume principally examines criminal procedure in capital cases. No case records pertaining to mental illness were maintained at this time. Hale defined the differences between medical and legal insanity, together with temporary or partial insanity. Hale argued that only total insanity could excuse an offender from legal responsibility, and this important principle is still utilised in criminal law today.

(ESTC T187517, Sweet & Maxwell, 362 (36); Marke, 450; Marvin, 358, Winfield pp. 326-27.)

Please contact us for shipping costs if ordering from outside the UK.

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Now first published from his Lordship's Original Manuscript, and the several References to the Records examined by the Originals, with large Notes. By Sollom Emlyn.

First Edition. Two large paper folio volumes (39 * 24 cm), engraved portrait frontispiece in Volume 1, Vol. 1: 710pp, Vol. 2: 612pp. Bound in contemporary calf, re-backed, red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt. Printed by E. and R. Nutt, and R .Gosling (London) for F. Gyles, T. Woodward, and C. Davis, 1736.

A near fine example.

Sir Matthew Hale (1609-1676), an English Lord Chief Justice, is regarded as one of the greatest legal authorities from the 17th century. His judicial doctrines have continued to influence the opinions of his legal successors and remain widely read. These volumes were the first effort to provide a history of English criminal law and remain Hale’s most famous work. The first volume examines excuses for crime such as infancy and madness, before examining more important crimes and statutory felonies. The second volume principally examines criminal procedure in capital cases. No case records pertaining to mental illness were maintained at this time. Hale defined the differences between medical and legal insanity, together with temporary or partial insanity. Hale argued that only total insanity could excuse an offender from legal responsibility, and this important principle is still utilised in criminal law today.

(ESTC T187517, Sweet & Maxwell, 362 (36); Marke, 450; Marvin, 358, Winfield pp. 326-27.)

Please contact us for shipping costs if ordering from outside the UK.

Now first published from his Lordship's Original Manuscript, and the several References to the Records examined by the Originals, with large Notes. By Sollom Emlyn.

First Edition. Two large paper folio volumes (39 * 24 cm), engraved portrait frontispiece in Volume 1, Vol. 1: 710pp, Vol. 2: 612pp. Bound in contemporary calf, re-backed, red morocco spine labels lettered in gilt. Printed by E. and R. Nutt, and R .Gosling (London) for F. Gyles, T. Woodward, and C. Davis, 1736.

A near fine example.

Sir Matthew Hale (1609-1676), an English Lord Chief Justice, is regarded as one of the greatest legal authorities from the 17th century. His judicial doctrines have continued to influence the opinions of his legal successors and remain widely read. These volumes were the first effort to provide a history of English criminal law and remain Hale’s most famous work. The first volume examines excuses for crime such as infancy and madness, before examining more important crimes and statutory felonies. The second volume principally examines criminal procedure in capital cases. No case records pertaining to mental illness were maintained at this time. Hale defined the differences between medical and legal insanity, together with temporary or partial insanity. Hale argued that only total insanity could excuse an offender from legal responsibility, and this important principle is still utilised in criminal law today.

(ESTC T187517, Sweet & Maxwell, 362 (36); Marke, 450; Marvin, 358, Winfield pp. 326-27.)

Please contact us for shipping costs if ordering from outside the UK.