The Office and Duty of Executors: Or a Treatise Directing Testators..

1656. London: T. Maxey, For Matthew Walbank, 1656.. London: T. Maxey, For Matthew Walbank, 1656. "The Foundation of All Similar Productions of the Kind" Wentworth, Thomas [c.1568-1628]. The Office and Duty of Executors. Or a Treatise of Wils and Executors, Directed to Testators in the Choice of Their Executors, And Contrivance of Their Wils. With Direction for Executors in the Execution of of [sic] Their Office, According to the Law; And for Creditors in the Recovery of their Debts. With Divers Other Particulars, Very Usefull and Profitable for All Persons, Be They Either Executors, Creditors or Debtors. Compiled Out of the Body of the Common Law. Corrected and Amended. London: Printed by T. Maxey, For Matthew Walbank, 1656. [xxiv], 373, [1] pp. Last page blank. Octavo (5-1/2" x 3-1/2"). Contemporary sheep, blind rules to boards, blind fillets to spine, blind tooling to board edges. Moderate rubbing, a few minor scuffs and stains to boards, corners bumped and worn, pastedowns loose. Moderate toning to interior, faint dampspotting in a few places, light edgewear to preliminaries and rear endleaves, small early owner signature ("P. Bowes," possibly Paul Bowes [d.1702]) to head of title page. $550. * Fourth edition, one of three issues from 1656, all with the same edition statement. First published in 1641, the "authorship of this treatise is ascribed to Mr. Justice Dodderidge, though the work is commonly Known as Wentworth's Executors. It constitutes the foundation of all similar productions of the kind, and has always been regarded as a high authority in these matters" (Marvin). This was a popular and well-received work that went through several editions and issues into the nineteenth century. Our copy may have been owned by Paul Bowes, a lawyer and "enthusiastic antiquary" who amassed a vast personal library later divided between his eldest two sons (ODNB). OCLC locates 6 copies of the fourth edition in North America, 4 in law libraries (Harvard, Library of Congress, Ohio State, University of Missouri). Marvin, Legal Bibliography 724-725. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) (accessed online). English Short-Title Catalogue R220926.