A Report Of Divers Cases In Pleas Of The Crown, Adjudged And. Kelyng, Sir John, Reporter; W. Caldecott Antiquarian & Scholarly

London: Printed for Isaac Cleave, 1708. First ed. The First Edition of the First Reporter Devoted to Criminal Law Kelyng, Sir John [d. 1671]. A Report of Divers Cases in Pleas of the Crown, Adjudged and Determined; In the Reign of the Late King Charles II. With Directions for Justices of the Peace and Others. Collected by Sir John Kelyng, Knt. Late Lord Chief Justice of His Majesty's Court of King's Bench. From the Original Manuscript, Under His Own Hand. To Which is Added the Reports of Three Modern Cases, Viz. Armstrong and Lisle; The King and Plumer; The Queen and Mawgridge. London: Printed for Isaac Cleave, 1708. [iv], 138, [14] pp. Folio (11-3/4" x 7-1/4"). Contemporary calf, blind rules to boards, blind fillets along joints, raised bands, blind fillets with original red gilt lettering piece to spine, gilt tooling to board edges. Light rubbing and some shallow scuffing to boards, joints starting, chipping to spine ends, moderate rubbing to board edges, corners bumped and worn, hinges cracked (front hinge after front free endpaper). Moderate toning to interior, occasional light foxing, wear to lower outside corner of first two leaves, owner inscription "W Caldecott 1748" to title page. $500. * First edition. The first reporter devoted entirely to criminal law, these reports were collected after Kelyng's death and published by Justice Holt in 1708. Kelyng, a lawyer who specialized in criminal cases, became a judge of the King's Bench in 1663 was made Chief Justice of that court in 1665. The cases cover the years 1662 to 1669. Wallace says he was considered "a learned, faithful and resolute judge." This work was reissued in 1739. A second reissue was published in Dublin in 1789. Our copy was most likely owned by William Caldecott [1713-1777], a Warwickshire solicitor. Two of his children, Thomas and John, went on to gain prominence in the legal profession. Wallace, The Reporters 328. English Short-Title Catalogue T121547.