Sedgwick — Remarks, Critical and Miscellaneous, on the Commentaries of Sir William Blackstone: by James Sedgwick, x+304p, London, pr. by M. Ritchie for G.G. & J. Robinson, 1800. (This is the quarto first edition. The author is designated on the title page as "James Sedgwick of Pembroke College, Oxford, member of the honourable Society of the Middle Temple." The work is confined to Book I of Blackstone’s Commentaries; the author using the Eighth Oxford Edition, 1778, Eller Title no. 12, P⁄L 2⁄21 above.) OCLC17740678 [Available on 4 24x fiche as LLMC 82-800, Eller no. 264, for $6.00]
Same title, "2nd ed.,"1807: x+304p, London, pr. by Millar Ritchie for Mathews & Leigh, 1807. (Despite the use of the legend "2nd ed.," this work if really just a quarto reprint from the same plates as the preceding title. Other reprints, which were not seen by Eller, are as follows: London, 1804, octavo; 2nd ed., London, 1805, quarto; & a 2nd ed., London, 1807, octavo.) OCLC12274644
Reference from ILAB 8⁄28⁄2005
SEDGWICK, James. Remarks, critical and miscellaneous, on the Commentaries of Sir William Blackstone...
London: M. Ritchie for G. G. & J. Robinson, J. Butterworth, W. Clarke & Son, J. White, A. Sutton, and John Glanville, 1800. 4to (261 × 207 mm.), pp. x, [1] advert, [1] corrigenda, 304. Spotting to half-title and final few leaves, occasional light offsetting elsewhere. Contemporary full calf, rebacked and recornered, sides ruled in blind with a decorative flower and swag roll, gilt morocco lettering-piece to spine. Light surface wear only. Ink presentation inscription (dated 1805) to the half-title. A good copy, presented by the author. First edition; a second followed in 1804. Sedgwick (1775-1851) was called to the Bar at the about the same time as the publication of his Remarks on Blackstone. It is the work of a young lawyer keen to make his mark. Sedgwick shows his mettle early. In the preface, although sensible of the sanctity of Blackstone's words within the legal profession (and perhaps wary that a rash broadside may backfire on his own incipient career), he cannot resist: 'The glittering speculations of genius strike and delight us; but it is the great error of theorists, that they omit to study the living and actual state of human nature... Systems fabricated in an arm-chair, easily adapt remedies to all resulting evils. The projector is perfectly at ease. Nothing obstructs his progress. When he moves, every step is on velvet... He is like the military hero delineating in spilt port the battle of the Boyne. All the rubs of fortune are escaped; an expedient presents itself for eluding every obstacle, and all resistance is encountered with success. But in the living world, matters do not go on so smoothly as on paper.' Things did not entirely go smoothly for Sedgwick either. A variety of positions followed (commissioner of excise, examiner of the droits of admiralty accounts, chairman of the board of stamps), but he was thwarted a number of times in his career. His twilight years were spent airing various grievances.
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Remarks, critical and miscellaneous, on the Commentaries of Sir William Blackstone.
SEDGWICK, James.
Bookseller:
James Burmester: Rare Books (Bristol, AVN, United Kingdom)
Book Price: US$ 820.87
Description: 4to, x, (ii), 304 pp., with the author's advertisement leaf but lacking the half-title, Birmingham Law Society stamp on title and occasionally elsewhere, rebound in calf-backed boards. First edition. A chapter by chapter discussion, by a member of Middle Temple. Published uniform in size with the quarto Commentaries, and perhaps intended by the author to stand with it on the shelves. Eller, William Blackstone collection in the Yale Law Library, p. 112-3.
Bibliographic Details
Publisher: London: printed by M. Ritchie; for G. G. & J. Robinson; J. Butterworth; W. Clarke; J. White; A. Sutton; and John Glanville, 1800