Eighteenth-century Law

i) 4to volumes including Petitions, Informations (on disputed bills etc), Letters Patent, etc., several relating to the lands of Pitsligo and the claims of Sir William Forbes (e.g. Answers for Sir William Forbes of Pitsligo, Baronet, to The Petition of Alexander Lord Salton, 20 April 1787; Answers for William Forbes...to the Petition of John Ronaldson Merchant in Edinburgh, 28 February 1783, with folding engraved plate of the disputed public entry), some relating to claims in Ireland and foreign lands (e.g. Jamaica), folding tables and appendices, some disputed bills in manuscript interleaved, some with William Forbes' ownership signature; 

ii) 8vo volumes containing Trials (e.g. that of Katharine Nairn and Patrick Ogilvie for murder and incest in Edinburgh in August 1765), reports on the alarming bankruptcies occurring in Scotland in the late eighteenth century; Considerations of the Dangers of Convictions on Circumstantial Evidence, the minutes from the trial of Warren Hastings, late governor general of Bengal (1786), at least one work relating to the war in America (A View of the History of Great-Britain during the Administration of Lord North... for G. Wilkie, 1782), and another relating to the "Inhuman Massacre" of a mob sympathetic to the imprisoned radical M.P. John Wilkes at St. George's Fields in May 1768; many printed in Edinburgh and issued for the Faculty of Advocates, others printed in London; all late eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century quarter calf, marbled boards (spines numbered 65, 68, 70, 71, 72, 73, 215, 238, 308 (9)

The Forbes Baronetcy was created in 1626 for Sir William Forbes (d. circa 1650) by James VI in the Barontage of Nova Scotia. The majority of the works offered here were acquired by the sixth Baronet, also William (1739-1806), who added Pitsligo to his title in 1781. He was an eminent Scottish banker and benefactor, good friend of James Boswell and Samuel Johnson (see lots 45-46), and finally succeeded in recovering the Pitsligo estates forfeited after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745. His son William, the seventh baronet, beat Sir Walter Scott to the hand of the renowned beauty Williamina Belsches Stuart (1776-1810), and it was with their marriage that the family moved to her family seat, Fettercairn House in Kincardineshire, Aberdeenshire.

One of the sixth baronet’s acquisitions for his library at Pitsligo were numerous highly important miscellanies and tract volumes, many of which were purchased as a set from Edinburgh bookseller Elphinstone Balfour in October 1786. These were subsequently supplemented by further contemporary tracts and other works from the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century. Most of these miscellanies bear a nineteenth century Forbes family bookplate.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing unless otherwise stated
"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."