Historical Law Tracts Thrupp, John Antiquarian & Scholarly

An Interesting Collection of Tracts on the Origin and Evolution of Law Thrupp, John [1817-1870]. Historical Law Tracts. London: Owen Richards, Law Bookseller, 1843. [iv], 258, [2] pp. Errata slip tipped in before main text, which is followed by 2-pp. publisher catalogue. Octavo (7-1/4" x 4-1/4"; 18.7 x 11 cm). Later cloth, gilt fillets, title and institutional name to spine, endpapers renewed, edges untrimmed. Light soiling, negligible shelfwear, some fading to spine, library bookplate to front pastedown. Moderate toning to interior, light foxing and soiling to a few pages, ink library stamps to title page and a few other leaves, small clean tear to head of title page. A good copy. $450. * Only edition. "Thrupp's first book, Historical Law Tracts (1843), demonstrates his early fascination with both history and the origin and evolution of laws, particularly those relating to marriage and parental authority, but also to slavery, property, and criminal jurisprudence. 'The history of a nation', he contended, 'is in its laws' (p. 5). His book was well received and, after the death in 1844 of his father who left him a competency, he became a regular correspondent on a wide range of historical, judicial, and cultural themes in [the long-running scholarly periodical] Notes and Queries" (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, accessed online). Not in Sweet & Maxwell.