Original 1644 engraved title page from Sir Edward Coke’s 

Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England: Concerning the Jurisdiction of Courts

This is the decorative title page only, removed from an incomplete folio volume. A striking baroque engraved architectural border surrounds the title, with royal crown, winged figures, vine-wrapped columns and grotesque mask – an attractive display piece for framing or for a collection of early English law and printing.

·       Work: The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England: Concerning the Jurisdiction of Courts.

·       Author: Sir Edward Coke (1552–1634), leading common-law jurist.

·       Edition: First edition.

·       Imprint: Printed at London by M. Flesher, for W. Lee, and D. Pakeman, MDCXLIV (1644).

·       Engraver: Title page mostly engraved, traditionally attributed to John Payne.

·       Language: English text with Latin epigraph from Proverbs 22:28 and Coke’s motto “Hæc ego grandævus posui tibi, candide lector” (“I, an old man, have set these things down for you, kind reader”).

·       Format: 19 x 27 cm; engraved architectural border and title on recto; verso blank.

·       Subject: English common law; courts and legal jurisdiction; early modern legal history.

·       Condition: Genuine 17th-century leaf. Light age-toning, a few spots, and minor edge wear; image area clean and strongly impressed. Please examine scan; sold as original antique printing, not a modern reproduction.

References: Edward Coke, Institutes of the Laws of England, jurisdiction of courts, English law, common law, early English printing, 17th century, 1644, Miles Flesher, William Lee, Daniel Pakeman, copperplate; copper engraving; engraved title page, architectural border, legal history, antiquarian law book leaf, baroque engraving, constitutional history.