PERKINS, John (d. 1545)

A Profitable Booke of Maister Iohn Perkins, Felowe of the Inner Temple Treating of the Lawes of Englande

London: Apud Richard Tottell cum privilegio, in FleteStrete within Temple Barre, at the Signe of the Hande and Starre, [1593]. 8vo. (5 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches). A-B8 C4 B4 Bb4 C-Z8. [40 pp.] 1-168 ff. 376 pp. Title, Contents, Proemium, Table, Chapters I-II, Colophon. Latin preface, text in Law French, in black letter throughout. Woodcut historiated initials. Contemporary ink manuscript annotations.

Full modern speckled calf with blind ruling, three raised bands forming four compartments on spine, red morocco gilt-lettered titling-piece in second compartment, spine gilt ruled, on laid paper

Early edition of Perkins's popular 16th-century English legal treatise, Sir Edward Coke thought it "wittily and learnedly composed."

First published in 1528, Perkins's Profitable Booke was a popular work during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, held in high regard by Sir Edward Coke and others. Devoted mostly to land law as developed in the Year Books, it is divided into the following sections: grauntes (grants), faites (deeds), feoffmentes (fees), eschaunges (exchanges), dower, tenant curtesie (curtesy), deuises (devises), surrenders, resetuacion (reservations), and condicions (conditions). As prescribed by English courts at the time, it is in Law French, a derivation of Norman. The Profitable Booke was intended as a supplement to Littleton's Tenures, dealing with points of conveyancing which were not to be found in Littleton. Perkins's book became very popular and was in wide use many years after his death. It received praise from many sources and was considered a legal authority. Coke stated it "ought in general to have considerable weight."

ESTC S114283.

Item #31515

Price: $950.00