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Lex Parliamentaria: or, a treatise of the law and custom of parliaments. Shewing their antiquity, names, kinds, and qualities. Of the three Estates; and of the Dignity and Excellency of Parliaments, their Power and Authority. Of the Election of Members of the House of Commons in general, their Privilege, Qualifications, and Duties. Of the Electors; and their Rights, Duties; and Manner of Elections. Of the Returns to Parliament; the Sheriff's and other Officers Duty therein. Of the Manner of Election of the Speaker; and of his Business and Duty. Of the Manner of passing Bills, and the Orders to be observed in the House of Commons. Of Sessions of Parliament; as also of Prorogations and Adjournments: Together with the proper Laws and Customs of Parliaments. With an appendix of a case in Parliament between Sir Francis Goodwyn and Sir John Fortescue, for the Knights Place for the County of Bucks, 1 Jac. I. - Philips George

Circa 1701 - Printed for J. Stagg, London - The Second Edition, with large additions
A very rare printing of the second and enlarged edition, first published in 1690.

Lex Parliamentaria is a comprehensive treatise on the history of the rules, customs and practices of the English Parliamentary system at about the time of the Bill of Rights which had established, inter alia, that subjects had a right to petition the King, that elections of Members of Parliament should be free, and that Parliament should sit frequently.

Philips considers the development of Parliamentary powers, the election of Members, the rights and duties of electors, elections, the passing of Bills and the management of Parliamentary business. William and Andrew Bradford published an American edition in New York in 1716.’ [John Edwards]

This has until recently usually been attributed to George Petyt. The new attribution to the Irishman George Philips (1599?-1696) seems now to be widely accepted, however, an attribution originally claimed by both Sir James Ware (History of Irish writers, 1736) and Walter Harris, the History's editor.
 
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Price HK$ 12,000



Robertson of Irvine - Poet-Preacher - Arthur Guthrie

1890 - Ardrossan, London - Second Edition
A finely bound copy, illustrated with engraved frontispiece portrait and calotype plate of Trinity Church, Irvine from a photograph.

William Bruce Robertson (1820-86), Scottish divine, was born at Greenhill, St. Ninians, Stirling, 24 May, 1820, and was educated at the University of Glasgow and at the Secession Theological Hall, Edinburgh, where he made the acquaintance of Thomas de Quincey, and on his recommendation went to the University of Halle and studied under Friedrich Tholuck.

After travelling in Italy and Switzerland he was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Stirling and Falkirk in 1843, and was soon after ordained at the United Secession Church (after 1847, the United Presbyterian Church) in Irvine, Ayrshire. In this charge he remained for 35 years, exercising from his pulpit a truly magnetic influence.’
 
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Price HK$ 1,500



An Essay Upon Money and Coins - Joseph Harris

1757-58 - Sold by G. Hawkins at the Middle Temple Gate, London - First Edition
A finely bound first edition of ‘this influential 1757 work, considered by the Victorian economist J. R. McCulloch as 'one of the best and most valuable treatises on the subject of money that has ever seen the light', argues that it is vital to a country's economy that the value of precious metal in its coinage remains constant’ – Cambridge University Press.

‘One of the best eighteenth-century performances in the field of monetary analysis’. – Schumpeter,
History of Economic Analysis. 
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Price HK$ 15,000



Fluctuations in the Price of Gold in 1863 - J. P. Howard

1863 - Snyder, New York - Entered according to an act of Congress in the year 1863 by J.P.Howard in the Clerk&rsquo
These are extraordinary times, and extraordinary measures must be resorted to in order to save our Government, and preserve our nationality.'

Obama? Trump? No, Governor Spaulding presenting a draft of the '
First Legal Tender Act' which President Lincoln signed in February 1862, in order to issue a 'limited' $150,000 of new treasury notes. The birth of the US dollar note as we know it and the first of three rounds over 24 months, which saw the limit rise to US$450,000. Why? To pay off enormous Government debt, caused by expenditure on the military, and also to counter the loss of faith in Government paper.

Here you have an extremely scarce original 1.5 metre long chart of gold prices over this period from January 1862 up to September 1863 (dimensions 150 x 45.5 cm). With notations of current events added (Iron Clad attack on Fort Sumter, Battle of Chancellorsville, Battle of Gettysburg, Surrender at Fort Hudson (the lowest point of the year), etc.). Folded and enclosed in the printer’s original gilt titled green cloth covers. In addition, tipped inside the front cover is a contemporary facsimile of a chart (37.8 x 22.6 cm) showing the fluctuation of iron, flour, and cotton prices from 1834-1859.

The gold chart follows the sharp fluctuations in the value of gold from 101 in January 1862 to a peak of 171 in March 1863. They dropped to 123 on the Surrender of Port Hudson on July 18th. Recovering and continuing up as the variation in prices tempted speculators and investors to buy gold bullion in order to protect against a decline in the value of the freshly printed paper money.

In the following years this rise continued until 1869, the first 'Black Friday' and the collapse of gold over a period of 48 hours, caused by one highly influential finance house with political assistance cornering the market, and a subsequent surge in Gold prices, the threat of flooding the market with Treasury owned gold (which they didn't actually have), the failed attempts to convert gold holdings (on paper), bank runs, riots, investors and speculators wiped out, stock market plummets, economy weakens and the rest is history, which yes does have a habit of repeating itself....
 
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Price HK$ 60,000



Popular Romances of the West of England; or, The Drolls, Traditions, and Superstitions of Old Cornwall - Robert Hunt (editor)

1865 - John Camden Hotten, London - First Edition
Two finely bound volumes of these magnificent collections of Cornish fairy tales, superstitions and traditions, 117 in the first series and 220 in the second series, to be read by firelight on a cold winter evening, or actually even in the height of summer...

What makes this set unique are the additional engraved plates that have been stunningly bound in by Bayntun of Bath, originally containing two engravings by Cruikshank, this set adds another 108 relevant older engravings (18 of which are hand-coloured) and two maps (one of which is hand-coloured).
 
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Price HK$ 11,000



Billionaire - Inscribed - Peter James

1983 - W. H. Allen, London - First Edition
A fine first edition of Peter James best seller, signed and with nice and personal inscription from the author in large black pen on title page ‘Jan 28th, 1983, To a fine fellow Old-Carthusian (Without Prejudice) To my second Dad! With very best wishes, Peter’.

An ‘Old-Carthusian’ is a former pupil of Charterhouse, the British public school.

“City stockbroker Alex Rocq leads a comfortable life – with a luxury flat in London, a country cottage, a very expensive car, and a lucrative job that still leaves time for leisure. But all this isn’t enough. After receiving a tip-off, Alex decides to play the commodities market for himself. He soon learns the hard way that fortune doesn’t always favour the brave, and his luck comes to an abrupt end.

When he is offered the chance to write off his debts – in exchange for special services and silence – Rocq can’t believe his luck. But how far will a desperate man go to harness the power players around him?”
 
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Price HK$ 3,000



1853-55 - John C. Riker, New York
‘I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man’

A superb set of the first collected edition of the works of Thomas Jefferson, author of the
Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, who voiced the aspirations of a new America as no other individual of his era. As public official, historian, philosopher, and plantation owner, he served his country for over five decades.

Complete in nine volumes, with folding facsimiles and tables. Published by the Order of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, from the Original Manuscripts deposited in the department of state. With explanatory notes, tables of contents, and a copious index to the whole, by the editor H. A. Washington.
 
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Price HK$ 29,000



Profiles in Courage - Senator John F. Kennedy

1956 - Harper &, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition in bright clean and delicate dust jacket, which is usually encountered in a far worse state.

Profiles in Courage’, which Kennedy dedicated to his wife Jacqueline Kennedy, received the Pulitzer Prize for history in 1957.

This is a book about that most admirable of human virtues – courage. “Grace under pressure,” Ernest Hemingway defined it.’

Kennedy’s election to the House in 1946 and the Senate in 1952 gave him personal experience in dealing with the conflicting pressures that legislators face. Kennedy took a leave of absence to recover from back surgery, giving him the opportunity to study the topic of political courage. The result,
Profiles in Courage, focuses on the careers of eight Senators whom Kennedy felt had shown great courage under enormous pressure from their parties and their constituents. His own battles with physical pain and his experiences in World War II as a PT boat commander also gave him inspiration.

 
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Price HK$ 15,000



 
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