PBA Galleries

3 volumes. vi, [2], 315; [2], ii, 401, [34]; [2], ii, ii, 453, [15] pp. Folding table in Vol. III. (8vo) 21.2x12.8 cm (8¼x5"), period half calf & boards. First Edition.

Rare complete three-volume first edition of Basil Montagu's compilation on capital punishment, a matter of discussion and dispute in an era when pickpockets and lesser offenders were routinely put to death. There are contributions by Samuel Johnson, Blackstone, Benjamin Franklin, Goldsmith, Turner, Thomas More, Lord Bacon, Pastoret, Montesquieu, Rousseau, Hume, and others, with sections of laws and bills. An important work in the literature of crime and punishment, often cited. Old bookplates of the London Literary Society (a lending library) to front pastedowns.