[DYER, SIR JAMES (1512-1582)]. Cy Ensuont Ascuns Novel Cases, Collectes per le Jades Tresreverend Judge, Mounsieur Jasques Dyer, Chiefe Justice del Common Banke. London: In Aedibus Thomae Wight, 1601
THIRD EDITION. Leather-bound; hardcover; folio (29.5 x 19.5 x 6.5 cm); [iv], 62, 65-377, [1] ff. Leaves numbered on rectos. Text written in Law French, printed in Gothic blackletter typeface. Bound in contemporary full calf; blind rules to boards; raised bands, blind fillets and gilt titles to spine; initial and terminal blanks present; title-page printed within woodcut border; at foot of title: Cum priuilegio; editors' dedication signed: R. Farewell. Ia. Dyer; letterpress chapter headers; decorative woodcut initials; printed side-notes; final leaf bears a list of the Chief Justices of the Common Bank. Provenance: Hicks Beach Estate - from the Library of Williamstrip, Coln St Aldwyns, family seat 1788 to 2008, and thereafter Mill House, Coln St Aldwyns. Sir Michael Hicks Beach Bt. Succeeded his father as 9th Baronet of Beverston in 1854. He became a Conservative Member of Parliament in 1864 and served twice as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1885-1886 and 1895-1902. In 1906 he was raised to Viscount St. Aldwyn and in 1915 became the first Earl St. Aldwyn. Condition: GOOD. Collated complete. Binding secure, the covers with some light rubbing, small abrasions, and a section of leather absent from the spine head. Interior well-preserved with some light toning, some inked annotations in the margins, the rear endpapers with a hand-written index in alphabetical order. An appealing copy.
Notes: First published in 1585, Dyer’s Ascuns Novel Cases, generally known as Dyer’s Reports, contain cases heard in the Courts of Common Pleas, King’s Bench, Exchequer and Chancery from 1513 to 1582. One of the first publications of its kind, it was also the first to be referred to regularly as “Reports.” A work of great authority (second only to that of the Year Books), it went through six editions in Law-French, the last one in 1688; and this copy being the third edition of 1601 published by Thomas Wight. It is a foundational, early collection of English law reports written in Law French by Chief Justice Sir James Dyer. The influential text is a primary source for understanding the development of English common law. It gives deep insights into constitutional and religious conflicts that erupted during the tumultuous transitions between the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. It also covers the early evolution of civil rights mechanisms, such as the writ of habeas corpus, and the judiciary's attempts to limit executive overreach by the Crown. Unlike modern case law, which focuses heavily on judicial opinions, Dyer’s entries are concise and procedural. The 1601 edition features a unique editorial layout tailored to 17th-century lawyers. [ESTC no. S121516.]
