25th Jan, 2023 10:30 GMT/BST
The David Stather Library
110
Judge Jeffreys
Jeffreys (George, 1st Baron of Wem), Indenture of a lease of a mansion in the parish of St. Mary Aldermanbury in the City of London, dated 26th March 1672 and made by the Mayor, Commonalty and Citizens of London to 'George Jeffreyes Esquire, Common Sergeant att Law of the said Citty of London' for a term of 41 years 'if hee the said George Jeffreyes shall soe long continue Common Sergeant or other officer of the said Citty of London' at a yearly rent of £20.00 payable by equal instalments on four specified feast days.
Manuscript on vellum, approx 33cm x 50cm, large wax seal attached (worn), indenture folded, four holes along one fold with some loss of text.
[Judge Jeffreys known as 'the Hanging Judge' presided over 'the Bloody Assizes (1685) following the Monmouth Rebellion. He is thought to have destroyed his private papers before attempting to escape the country following the invasion of William of Orange]
Sold for £250
Estimated at £200 - £300
Auction: The David Stather Library, 25th Jan, 2023
A single-owner sale of the Library of David Stather (1940-2022)
The library comprises a large collection of early books, pamphlets and manuscripts on English history, focusing on the English Civil War, the ‘Popish Plot’, the Monmouth Rebellion and the Glorious Revolution, early Parliament and the Monarchy of that period, the development of English law, the Reformation, early bibles and prayer books, chronicles of English history and some very early books on witchcraft.
The earliest manuscript dates from 1285, and the earliest book is an incunable from 1486, however the majority date from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Interestingly, many are books that contribute to English history rather than just reporting on it, for example the collection includes books reporting the Popish Plot, which were written specifically to create social division through what is now known as ‘fake news’.
The books have been lovingly preserved by David Stather and the auction provides a rare opportunity to purchase books from a very focused collection built up over his lifetime.
Please submit any enquiries for the sale to books@tennants-ltd.co.uk
Viewing
Tuesday 24th January 10am-5pm and the morning of the sale from 8am
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