The Life and Death of Sir Matthew Hale, Kt., Sometime Lord Chief Justice of His Majesties Court of Kings Bench

Printed for William Shrowsbery, at the Bible in Du, 1682-01-01. Hardcover. Very Good. 1682 'Printed for William Shrowsbery, at the Bible in Duke-Lane (London) 4 1/4 x 7 inches tall hardbound, modern calf-backed marbled boards, with five raised bands, gilt embossed design and gilt-lettered red leather label to spine, [20], 218 pp. ESTC No. R215370, Wing B5828. One of two variations noted by Wing, where catchword on page 3 is 'he' (rather than 'while'). This work was first published by Shrowsbery the prior year, 1681. Engraved frontispiece portrait laid down. Head margin of title page repaired, with pen notation over the repair. A bit of creasing, foxing and soiling to title page. Negligible foxing to contents. Minor rubbing to covers, but nonetheless a handsome, well preserved copy of an important biography. ~FFF~ Sir Matthew Hale (1609 - 1676) was an influential English barrister, judge and lawyer. Hale is almost universally appreciated as an excellent judge and jurist, with his central legacy coming through his written work, published after his death. His 'Historia Placitorum Coronae,' dealing with capital offences against the Crown, is considered 'of the highest authority,' while his 'Analysis of the Common Law' is noted as the first published history of English law and a strong influence on William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England. Hale's jurisprudence struck a middle-ground between Edward Coke's 'appeal to reason' and John Selden's 'appeal to contract,' while refuting elements of Thomas Hobbes's theory of natural law. His thoughts on marital rape, expressed in the Historia, continued in English law until 1991, and he was cited in court as recently as 1993. The author of this biography, Gilbert Burnet (1643 - 1715) was a Scottish theologian and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch, French, Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Burnet was respected as a cleric, a preacher, and an academic, as well as a writer and historian. He was associated with the Whig party.