Persons, Robert

An Answere to the fifth part of Reportes lately set forth by Syr Edward Cooke Knight...concerning the ancient & moderne Municipall lawes of England...by a Catholicke Devyne. [St. Omer: F. Bellet], 1606,  4to, woodcut initials and head-pieces, contemporary vellum, [STC 19352; Mendham P47], card slipcase, some spotting and soiling and browning; De Persecutione Anglicana Commentariolus...Ingolstadii: ex officina VVeissenhorniana apud VVolffgangum Ederum, 1583, 12mo, armorial bookplate of Conrad Feuerlein, contemporary vellum, [Mendham P48]; Elizabethae, Angliae Reginae haeresim Calvinianam propugnantis...Augustae [i.e. Antwerp]: apud Ioannem Fabrum, 1592, [Adams E142; Allison & Rogers I 885; Mendham P49]; bound with: Stapleton, Thomas. Apologia pro Rege Catholico Philippo II... Constantiae: apud Theodorum Samium, [1592], [Adams S1647; Mendham S281], 2 works in one volume, old calf, some staining and soling, covers cover detached (3)

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Three works by the Jesuit priest and controversialist Robert Persons (1546-1610), a major figure in establishing the sixteenth-century "English Mission" of the Society of Jesus. The first work is a polemic against Sir Edward Coke's anti-Catholic reading of the common law; the third a detailed rebuttal of a proclamation of Elizabeth I of October 1591, against seminary priests and Jesuits. Though Persons' reputation has long suffered from the "black legend" (a long English tradition of anti-Jesuit propaganda, which Joseph Mendham no doubt would have identified with)--see the extremely unflattering portrait in Kingsley's Westward Ho! (1855), for instance--more recent historiography "has shown more sympathy with the complexities of his predicament as a leader in exile, and a higher estimation of his gifts as an organizer and polemicist" (Oxford DNB).