13 Year Books of Henry VI, Years 1-20

1556. 13 Year Books of Henry VI, Years 1-20 [Year Books]. Henry VI [1421-1471], King of England. De Termino Michaelis Anno Regni Regis Henrici Sexti Primo. [London: Imprynted...In Fletestrete within Temple barre at the signe of the Hand and starre, by Rychard Tottyl, Anno. 1570]. viii ff. [Bound with] [12 Year Books of Henry VI, Years 2-20]. [London: Richard Tottell, 1567-1574]. Collates complete. Contemporary paneled calf, central blind arabesques, holes for ties or catches at fore-edges, rebacked and recornered in period style with raised bands, blind fillets and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Light rubbing, scuffing, faint dampstaining and a few small holes to boards, moderate rubbing to board edges, corners bumped and lightly worn, (illegible) ink annotation to fore-edge of text block, hinges cracked, faint offsetting to endpapers, later owner name (William Humfrys) and ink and pencil "4" to front pastedown. Moderate toning to interior, annotations and underlining in ink in a (likely single) early hand to most leaves, very light foxing and soiling in a few places, small holes or missing corners to a few leaves without loss to text or annotations. An impressive collection. $8,500. * It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Year Books. They are the first English law reports and are not just one of the foundations of English law but of every legal system in the world which has taken the common law as its model. As a series of notes on debates and points of pleadings in Norman England they are of crucial primary sources for our knowledge of medieval common law. They also provide a richly detailed portrait of contemporary English life, customs and manners. The origin of the Year Books is unknown. Some scholars believe the earliest volumes were notes transcribed by law students for study and for the use of lawyers in later cases while others maintain they were made by lawyers. Though it is not known when the first manuscript volumes were compiled, the cases date from the 1270s to 1535. Printed editions of the Year Books were first issued by William de Machlinia between 1481 and 1482. The present titles belong to the so-called "Quarto Edition." Not a set or edition in the conventional sense, these volumes were issued separately with various dates and impressions between 1522 and 1619. The exte.