A TREATISE ON EQUITY. With the Addition of Marginal References and Notes; by John Fonblanque, Esq. Two volumes.
Byrne, J. Moore, W. Jones, E. Lynch, and H. Watts: Dublin. 1793, 1795. Item #98-2320
8 x 5.25, full leather with raised bands, black spine labels with gilt decoration and lettering, blindstamped edges, xiii, 449 + index; xxiii, 495 + index. Hinges cracked and covers loose, rubbed, spotted, scuffed/scraped, corners bumped and worn, spine tips missig small pieces, leather cracking, lacks spine labe that list the title (spine labels that show volume numbers are present and those labels are cracked and missing pieces), gilt worn, page edges spotted, top edges soiled, former owner's ink name and stamp (Wm. Woodbridge), ink inscription, scattered spotting, staining, toning, creased corners, offsetting, in volume two, page 355 is printed as page 353. Books had belonged to William Woodbridge (1780 - 1861), Michigan governor and U.S. Senate and a Supreme Court Justice, he was married to Juliana Trumbull, daughter of Gov. John Trumbull of Connecticut and the sister of painter John Trumbull. Ink inscription in volume two is that of Juliana Trumbull Backus, his daughter, and it reads "Juliana J.W. Backus. This book belonged to my dear father Hon. Wm. Woodbridge, Ex governor and Senator in Michigan. Came to me in the division of his law library, August 23, 1862. Detroit, Mich." John (De Grenier) Fonblanque, a well known jurist of his time period, was called the "Father of the English Bar." He edited "A Treatise on Equity" and improved upon and added to its contents so that the book became an authority on equity and went through several subsequent editions. Fonblanque felt that Henry Ballow could not have been the author due to the fact that Ballow had less than 10 years' experience and was only 30 years old when the book was published (1737). (See Fonblanque's preface in volume two). According to Richard Adamiak, "A Treatise of Equity" is "The earliest known monograph on equity; as edited by Gilbert and later by Fonblanque, it remained until 1820 the standard . . . ." Scarce. Signed by the Governor in each volume.
Price: $1,250.00