Statham, Nicholas

Chancery folio (12 5/8 x 8 3/4 in.; 315 x 223mm). 190 leaves, [*]² a-y⁸ z [et]⁶, printed in secretary type, 50 lines plus headline, woodcut printer's device at end, with two pages of notes in a late 15th century hand on the front endpapers in Latin and English including twenty-eight lines of Middle-English verse ("Of four partes my wille or I hens departe ... To heven on high my sowle I bequethe"). Late sixteenth- or early seventeenth-century Oxford binding of blind-tooled calf (Oldham MW.d(11), used with other tools 1534-1613, used alone 1613-1614); rebacked.

John Halloway (fellow of New College, died 1632), purchased in Oxford on 10 July 1613 (inscription at head of a1) — Francis Hobler-Walbrook, London, purchased for £1-11-6 on 23 February 1826 (inscription at head of a1) — Birmingham Law Society (name stamped on binding and bookplate, founded 1818) — Bonhams, London, 16 November 2004, lot 197. acquisition: Bernard Quaritch, 2005

STC 23238; Goff S689; HC(Add) 15092; BMC viii 390; Bod-inc S-284; GW M43245; Duff 374

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where 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."

A tall, crisp copy of the first English law book, with abridgements of cases decided in the English courts between the reigns of Edward I and Henry VI.

This is the first book in which Pynson appears, with his name "Per me R. pynson" printed at the end of the index. Pynson was a glove-maker from Normandy who set up his printing business in London by 1491, in the wake of the death of Caxton, specialising in legal texts and becoming King's Printer in 1506. His printer's device was based on that of Le Talleur which appears at the end of this volume. At around the same time as this volume appeared, he commissioned another legal volume from Le Talleur, Sir Thomas Littleton's Tenores novelli.

An early reader made extensive notes on the first leaves of the book, including the addition of an English poem with a Latin introduction ("Terram Terra Tegat...") This poem is in the form of a will or testament, in which the speaker consigns his body to the earth, his sins to the Devil, his goods to the world, and his soul to God. It has been published from a copy in The British Library (Lansdowne MS 762, fol. 3).

It is plausible that this was once an interleaved copy, as there are stubs visible at several places throughout the book.