The justice of the peace, and parish officer. By Richard Burn, LL. D. Chancellor of the Diocese of Carlisle, and one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace for the Counties of Westmorland and Cumberland. The fifteenth edition: to which is added an appendix, including the Statutes of the last Session of Parliament (24 G. 3.) In four volumes.

London: London: printed by W. Strahan and W. Woodfall, Law-Printers to the King's most Excellent Majesty ; for T. Cadell, in the Strand. M.DCC.LXXXV. [1785], 1785. Hardcover. Good. Description: Four volumes, complete. 8vo (8¾ × 5¾ in): xxviii, 540 p.; t-p., 624 p.; t-p., 640 p.; t-p., 451, [166] p. (The last leaf of the fourth volume contains ads.) Contemporary sheep. · Register: 8º: A^8 a^6 B-2L^8 2M^4 2N^2; [pi]1 A-2Q^8; [pi]1 A-2R^8; [pi]1 B-2H^8 2I^3 *2H-*2P^8 *2Q^2 · Condition: Joints cracked but boards secure, some scrapes, edges worn, head and tail of spines slightly chipped, gilt labels all intact. Modern bookplate to front pastedown of each volume. Pages toned, some with mild foxing, but clean. · Comments: Fifteenth and final edition by Burn. In England, justices of the peace had broad powers in both criminal and local administrative matters. For many petty offenses, they had power to try and convict the accused summarily, without a jury. For more serious crimes, they had the power to examine the alleged offender and to release, bail, or commit him pending trial. They also exercised authority concerning the licensing of inns and taverns, the poor laws, laborers, road maintenance, size, quality and price of various staple products, and a host of other matters. (To illustrate the extent of the justices' responsibilities, Holdsworth inserted a list of the approximately 210 headings in the eighth edition of Burn's "Justice.") Those powers were spelled out in literally hundreds of statutes, and expounded upon in hundreds more judicial decisions, thus necessitated extensive treatises for the guidance of the justices, many of whom had little or no formal legal training. Most early American manuals for justices of the peace were more or less condensations of Burns' work, since many of the English statutes did not apply while other duties, particularly in civil disputes, had been established by local legislation. Holdsworth considered Burn's Justice to be one of a handful of legal classics produced in the eighteenth century. · References: Johnson 31 (6 copies); S&M 1:225(15); Holdsworth, HEL 10:161-162, 12:332-334, 429; Marvin 163; ESTC T69333.