In Hoc Volumine Contine[n]tur Omnes Anni Regis Henrici Quarti Ab..

1576. Year Books of Henry IV, Beale R62 [Year Books]. Henry IV [Reigned 1399-1413]. In Hoc Volumine Contine[n]tur Omnes Anni Regis Henrici Quarti ab Anno Primo Usque ad Annum Decimum Quintum, Non Modo Impressorum, Sed Etiam Manu Scriptorum Exemplarium Collatione Eme[n]dati, Et Iam Noviter Impressi Opera & Impensis Richard Tottelli. London: Imprinted...in Fletestrete Within Temple Barre, At the Signe of the Hande and Starre, By Rycharde Tottel, 1576. [i], cccxxviii, [1] ff. Folio (11-1/4" x 7-1/2"). Recent paneled calf, raised bands and blind-stamped decoration to spine, marbled endpapers. A few small nicks to rear board and some fading to spine. Light toning to interior, light soiling in a few places, worming to lower right margin without loss to text, neat cellotape repairs to edges of title page. Early ownership signature ("Thomas") to head of title page, with annotations in two small, neat hands throughout, most of which are case citations. $4,500. * It is difficult to overestimate the importance of the Year Books. As a series of notes on debates and points of pleadings in Norman England they are 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 they were notes compiled by law students for study while others maintain they were made by lawyers for use in pleading. Though it is not known when the first manuscript volumes were compiled, extant examples 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 volume belongs 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. English Short-Title Catalogue S120217. Beale, Bibliography of Early English Law Books R62.