October 2, 2010
PRINTED 1556: THE FIRST EDITION OF THE EXPANDED MAGNA CARTA
Of Fundamental importance to constitutional law in England, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Magna Charta cum statutis quae Antiqua vocantur, iam recens excusa, & summa fide emendata, iuxta vetusta exemplaria ad Parliamenti rotulos examinata : quibus accesserunt nonnulla nunc primum typis edita, apud Richardum Totelum, 12. Iun., 1556. London : In aedibus Richardi Tottelli, 1556. Contains Magna Carta and statutes passed before the reign of Edward III. Latin and Law French. Imprint from colophon in v. 2. Vol. 2 has title: Secunda pars veterum statutorum. 2 vols in 1; Vol. 1: [8], 170, [2] leaves; v. 2: 72 leaves. 16mo., 14 x 10.5 cm., Later period-style calf and endpapers, old stain to inner margin of first title, some browning and spotting, a couple small holes, some annotations in a contemporary hand, handsome ornamental woodcut initials. Internally, VERY GOOD AND COMPLETE. $3800.00
This is the first printing of Tottel’s expanded Magna Carta. “The edition of [the Magna Carta] by Tottell in 1556 is the most known; it varies from Pyson’s and Berthelet’s in some readings of the text of the statutes, and it is enlarged by the addition of “certain statutes with other needful things taken out of old copies examined by the rolls,” printed at the end of the first part. Editions by Tottell were also printed in 1576 and 1587. There is reason to conclude that the copy used by Coke in his Second Institute was the[Tottell] edition of 1587. [Ref: Monthly Magazine and British Register 1812; pg. 336. Also See Maxwell. Bibliography of English Law. i. pg. 350]
