Grotius, Hugo

Of the Law of Warre and Peace with Annotations. III. Parts. And Memorials of the Author's Life and Death. London: T. Warren for William Lee, 1654



8vo (6 ½ x 4 in.; 165 x 102 mm). Engraved portrait of the author by Thomas Cross, decorative woodcut initials; a few light marginal spots. Contemporary speckled calf, blindruled,  spine gilt; skilfully rebacked with original spine laid down.

William Legge (signature dated "1654" on front free endpaper) —George Legge, first Baron Dartmouth (signature "Dartmouth" on title)

PMM 125 (Latin edition); Ter Meulen & Diermanse 627; Wing G-2119

First edition in English of the founding treatise of international law.

The work presents a fully-formed theory of natural and civil law, treating the origin of political power and private property, the relations among natural, divine and human laws, the powers of rulers and the liberties of peoples. It is a work of unparalleled erudition, displaying a grasp of all the literature relevant to the topic—not only ancient and medieval authors but the Jewish philosophers Maimonides and Abravanel, and recent theorists like Bodin and Suarez, as well as English legal commentators Fortescue and Littleton. Grotius developed a Protestant version of the law of nature, excising papal authority in both the sacred and secular spheres. His book was so contrary to Church doctrine that it was placed on the Index soon after publication. First published in Paris in 1625, it was followed by at least fourteen editions before 1680 in Amsterdam.

William Legge (1607/8-1670) served as royalist master of the armory, governor of Oxford, and was imprisoned by the Parliament briefly in 1647. In March 1653 he was granted a pass to go abroad but there is no record of his activities during the royalists' exile. At the Restoration, he refused an earldom, but his son George (c.1647-1691) was named first  Baron Dartmouth.