Catalog 3 - French Law and Law in French

Title-page. First page of the dedication. Perspective view of back and top board. Perspective view of fore-edge and bottom board. Top board. Bottom board.
1.
Arthur Duck, 1580-1648
De l’Usage et de l’Autorite du Droit Civil dans les États des Princes Chrétiens· Traduit du Latin d’Arthurus Duck, Jurisconsulte Anglois.
Paris: J. Guignard, 1689.
A Paris, Au Palais, Chez Jean Guignard, à l’entrée de la grand’-Salle, à l’Image S. Jean. M. DC. LXXXIX. Avec Privilege du Roy.
ã68 ĩ4 õ6 ũ2, A-Z Aa-Pp in 8’s and 4’s, Mm6 Nn8 Oo4 Pp8 Qq2 (ã1, ã3, ẽ1 unsigned; õ4, ũ2, 2Q2 signed)
12mo (3¾ × 6 in.): t-p., [52] 419 [1, blank] [44] p. Contemporary leather, back compartments and edges tooled in gilt, morocco label, all edges rubricated.
Head and tail chipped, small hole in bottom joint. Short tear outer margin A1 without loss; tear lower margin 2M4, reaching text without loss; worm-hole in lower margin from X5 to end, affecting one letter in final line of most pages up to 2E8, then confined to margin in the remainder.
$500

First edition in French. Originally published in Latin under the title “De usu & authoritate juris civilis Romanorum, per dominia principum Christianorum” in London, 1653, 1679 and 1689. Only the section on the civil law in England has ever been translated into English; it was appended to the 1724 English translation of Claude Joseph de Ferriere’s Histoire du Droit Romain.

The work is properly a history of Roman or civil law in Europe—the first history of law on a European scale. It is divided into two parts. The first part traces the history of Roman law generally, from its origin in ancient times, through Justinian’s Digest, its continuation in feudal and canon law, and its perpetuation in the universities of Europe. The second part of the work discusses the use of the Roman or civil law in the various nations of Europe, including a lengthy section on England. Duck’s purpose was to refute the notion that England did not use civil law at all; however, the section ends with the prediction that the civil law would not last long in England—a passage omitted from the English translation.

Cf. Wing (2d ed. rev.) D2427, D2428, D2429; Sweet & Maxwell 612 (citing Latin editions). Peter Stein, ‘Duck, Arthur (1580–1648)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).

Title-page. Perspective view of back and top board. Perspective view of fore-edge and bottom board. Owners’ inscriptions on endpaper facing title-page. First page of the “Avertissement”. Silk place marker between pages 200 and 201. Top board. Bottom board.
2.
Samuel Pufendorf, 1632-1694 & Jean Barbeyrac, 1674-1744, translator and annotator
Les Devoirs de l’Homme, et Du Citoien, Tels qu’ils lui sont prescrits par la Loi Naturelle. Traduits du Latin de feu Mr. Le Baron de Pufendorf, Par Jean Barbeyrac. Avec quelques Notes du Traducteur.
Amsterdam & Luxembourg: A. Chevalier, 1708.
A Amsterdam, Et se vend, A Luxembourg, chez André Chevalier M. DCC. VIII.
*8 **8 ***8 A-Z8 Aa-Bb8 (**3, ***3 unsigned; $4 signed only in gatherings M-R, T, X, Y, 2A, 2B)
8vo (3⅛ × 6⅞ in.): xliv [4] 399 p. Contemporary leather, back compartments and edges tooled in gilt, morocco label, red-speckled edges.
Head and tail chipped with traces of old tape repairs, corners worn, joints cracking. No front free endpaper; early printed bookplate, later owner’s marks to front pastedown; signature on title-page; light foxing throughout; remains of silk place marker between N4 & N5.
SOLD

Second printing of first French translation, coming a year after its initial publication. First published in Latin under the title “De officio hominis et civis juxta legem naturalem” in 1673. An English translation by Andrew Tooke appeared in 1691 under the title “The Whole Duty of Man” and was reprinted several times through the eighteenth century.

As Barbeyrac notes repeatedly in his introduction to the translation, De officio is an abridgment of Pufendorf’s De jure naturae et gentium, which Barbeyrac’s had also translated into French. At the end of the introduction, Barbeyrac includes a list of additional errata he had found out in the edition of his translation of De jure: “Avant que de finir cette Préface, il ne sera pas hors de propos de marquer ici quelques fautes d’impression, ou d’inadvertence, qui ne se trouvent point dans l’Errata de ma Traduction du Droit de la Nature & des Gens, soit parce que les Imprimeurs ne reçûrent pas assez à tems la liste que j’en envoyai, soit à cause qu’elles m’avoient échappé en relisant les feuilles à mesure qu’on imprimoit.”

Cf. Wing (2d ed. rev.) P4174 (first Cambridge edition in Latin, 1682), P4182 (English translation, 1691), P4183 (second edition in English, 1698); Sweet & Maxwell 597-598 (citing Latin and English editions).

Title-page of first volume, with institutional library stamp. Title-page of second volume, with institutional library stamp. Perspective view of backs and top board of volume two. Marbled endpapers. Top boards. Bottom boards.
3.
Robert-Joseph Pothier, 1699-1772
Traité des Obligations, Selon les Regles Tant du For de la Conscience, Que du For Extérieur. Nouvelle Édition.
Paris & Orléans: Debure & Rouzeau-Montaut, 1768.
A Paris, Chez Debure pere, Quai des Augustins, à l’Image S. Paul. A Orléans, Chez la Veuve Rouzeau-Montaut, Imp. du Roi, de la Ville, & de l’Université. M. DCC. LXVIII. Avec Approbation et Privilege du Roi. [volume one reads: “Appropation”]
π a8 A-Z12 Aa-Dd12 Ee8; π a6 A-Z12 Aa-Bb12 Cc2
12mo (4 × 6⅝ in.), 2 vols.: t-p., xvi 663 p.; t-p., iii-xiv 604 p. Mottled calf, backs tooled in gilt, morocco title-labels, all edges rubricated, marbled endpapers.
Ex-library with instutional stamps on front endpapers and title-pages. Backs chipped at top and bottom, corners worn, boards scraped in places. Paper fresh, a few gatherings starting to work loose, a few notes in pencil in the margins of the early pages of volume one, remnant of silk place markers in volume one between pages 380 & 381, volume two between pages 220 & 221.
SOLD

Third edition. Pothier’s works were a significant influence on the preparation of the Civil Code. Two English translations were published in America in 1802 and 1806, the latter reprinted several times up to 1853. According to Marvin, the second translation, by Evans, contains errors caused by the translator’s unfamiliarity with the technicalities of French law. However, the work proved influential in the formation of American commercial law in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Marvin 578.

Title-page of first volume. Title-page of second volume. Leaf H8 (pages 183-184) of first volume a cancel. First page of the 16-page, separately-paginated “Observation Générale sur les Précédents Traités de l’Auteur” at the end of the second volume. Marbled endpapers and typographic ex libris. Perspective view of backs and top board of second volume. Perspective view of fore-edges and bottom board of first volume. Top boards. Bottom boards.
4.
Robert-Joseph Pothier, 1699-1772
Traité du Contrat de Mariage, Par l’Auteur du Traité des Obligations.
Paris & Orléans: Debure & Rouzeau-Montaut, 1768.
A Paris, Chez Debure l’aîné, Quai des Augustins, à l’Image S. Paul. A Orleans, Chez la Veuve Rouzeau-Montaut, Imp. du Roi, de la Ville, & de l’Université. M. DCC. LXVIII. Avec Approbation et Privilege du Roi.
a8 A-T12 V10 (± H8) (P4 signed ‘L iv’); a8 A-S12 (O3 signed “O vj” on verso)
12mo (3¾ × 6⅝ in.), 2 vols.: half-title, t-p., v-xvi 475 p.; half-title, t-p., errata leaf, vii-xvi 419 [1, blank] 16 p. Mottled calf, backs tooled in gilt, morocco label, all edges rubricated, marbled endpapers.
Backs chipped at top and bottom, title-label missing from volume one, top joints cracking, corners worn, early letter-press bookplates to front pastedowns. Light foxing; lower corner of H7 missing, not affecting text; silk place markers in volume one between pages 4 & 5 and volume two between pages 110 & 111.
$350

First edition. In the second volume, the last section of 16 pages, “Observation Générale sur les Précédents Traités de l’Auteur,” contains Pothier’s observations on the degrees of fault recognized in contractual matters.

Title-page with silk place marker. Final leaf, with Errata. Perspective view of back and top board. Perspective view of fore-edge and bottom board. Marbled endpapers. Top board. Bottom board.
5.
Jean Louis de Lolme, 1740-1806
Constitution de l’Angleterre.
Amsterdam: E. Harrevelt, 1771.
A Amsterdam, Chez E. van Harrevelt. MDCCLXXI.
[star]2 A-T8 V3
8vo (5 × 8 in.): t-p., [2] 308 [2] p. Mottled calf, backs tooled in gilt, morocco label, all edges rubricated, marbled endpapers, silk place marker.
Leather decayed in places, joints still solid.
$300

First edition. The first full, authorized English edition was published in 1775, although at least a part of the book appeared in English in 1772 under the title “A Parallel between the English Constitution and the Former Government of Sweden”; London booksellers had already begun work on a full translation at that time. The book was a great success in England and influenced the constitutional debate in America as well. De Lolme revised the work several times, reaching a fourth edition in 1784, and the book was reprinted numerous times into the nineteenth century, as well as forming the basis for subsequent editors” works on the English constitution.

Cf. Sweet & Maxwell 100 (citing English editions); G. P. Macdonell, ‘Lolme, John Louis de (1741–1806)’, rev. Adam I. P. Smith, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004).

Title-page. “Avis de l’Éditeur” in verse, facing title-page. Bottom corner of page 289 torn away, with loss to three lines. Bottom corner of page 290 torn away, with loss to three lines. Front endpapers with early owner’s marks. Perspective view of back and top board. Perspective view of fore-edge and bottom board. Top board. Bottom board.
6.
Joseph-Henri Flacon Rochelle, attrib.
Code Civil des Français, Mis en Vers, Avec le texte en regard. Livre Premier. Par J.-H. F. R.
Paris: T. le Clerc, 1805.
A Paris, Chez Théodore le Clerc jeune, libraire, Quai des Augustins, N.º 34. 1805. — 2.e de l’Empire.
π4, [1]-26 in alternating 12’s and 6’s, 278 (chain lines are horizontal in the first and last gatherings and vertical in the remainder)
18mo (3½ × 5½ in.): viii 484 p. Untrimmed in publisher’s paper-covered boards, gilt title-label.
Wear at edges and corners; loss of paper to back with back tearing away from spine at top; joints still holding; title-label chipped. Light damp-stains throughout, light to moderate foxing; lower corner of p. 289-290 torn with loss to three lines on each page (see pictures).
SOLD

Sole edition, published the year following the Code itself. Covers the first 432 articles of the Code. No further volumes published. The original prose and its versification are presented on facing pages. This work preceded by six years the more successful effort of Decomberousse.

Title-page. Half-title. First page of “Avertissement des Éditeurs”. Perspective view of back and top board. Perspective view of fore-edge and bottom board. Marbled endpapers. Top board. Bottom board.
7.
Henri-Jean-Baptiste Dard, 1779-1840, editor
Code Napoléon, avec des Notes Indicatives des Lois Romaines, Coutumes, Ordonnances, Édits et Déclarations, Qui Ont Rapport a Chaque Article; ou Conférence du Code Napoléon avec les Lois Anciennes; par Henri-Jean-Baptiste Dard (de l’Isère), Jurisconsulte, et Professeur de Droit Romain à l’Académie de Législation; suivi d’Une Table Générale des Matières par Ordre Alphabétique, Par J. A. C........ [i.e., Commaille], ancien Jurisconsulte.
Paris: L. Collin, 1808.
À Paris, Chez Léopold Collin, Libraire, rue Gît-le-Cœur, nº. 4. 1808.
4to (8 × 10⅛ in.): viii 640 p. Contemporary calf, rebacked, gilt title-label; marbled endpapers; all edges dyed blue.
Traces of shelf label on back. Sporadic foxing.
SOLD

Apparently a re-issue of the second edition of 1807, with the title-page reflecting the redubbing of the Code Civil as the “Code Napoléon”, which had occurred on September 3, 1807, as well as a new publisher, with Collin replacing J.A. Commaille, who published the first edition and the “nouvelle” edition of 1807, in addition to compiling the index. The first edition came out in 1805, a third was published in 1827 under the original title, the title “Code Civil” having been restored in 1818. An extract of the work, apparently with just the references, was published in Leipzig in 1808, as well. The “Avertissement” explains why Dard chose not to include the texts of the sources cited after each article of the Code. No copies under this title in Catalogue collectif de France.

Cf. Camus-Dupin, p. 410 (1833 ed.) (citing Code Civil). Livre de Fonds ... Qui se trouvent à Paris, chez Léopold Collin, libraire, rue Gît-le-Cœr, n.º 4., at 21 (catalog at back of Œuvres complètes de Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais (Paris: L. Collin, 1809).
Terms: Offered subject to prior sale. Payment by check or PayPal accepted. Institutions invoiced. Book-rate shipping within the United States included in price. Other shipping methods billed at cost. Addresses in Virginia subject to five percent sales tax. Books may be returned within fourteen days of receipt for refund of purchase price.