71 B a u m a n R a r e B o o k s “A Symbol And A Battle Cry Against Oppression”: Scarce Large-Paper Copy Of The Magna Carta, 1759, A Splendid Folio Production Edited By Blackstone, In Contemporary Calf 92. (MAGNA CARTA) BLACKSTONE, William. The Great Charter and Charter of the Forest, with Other Authentic Instruments: to which Is Prefixed an Introductory Discourse, Containing the History of the Charters. Oxford, 1759. Folio, contemporary full speckled brown calf rebacked. $11,500. First Blackstone edition, large-paper copy, of one of the finest productions of the Clarendon Press, the monumental edition of the Magna Carta under the editorship of eminent jurist Sir William Blackstone—his “first important work.” The Magna Carta, signed by King John in 1215, is one of history’s most influential documents. “It became a symbol and a battle cry against oppression, each successive generation reading into it a protection of their own threatened liberties. In England, the Petition of Right (1628) and the Habeas Corpus Act (1679) looked directly back to the famous charter… In the United States both the national and the state constitutions … [are] directly traceable to Magna Carta” (New Britannica). It stands as “a sacred text, the nearest approach to an irrepealable ‘fundamental statute’ that England has ever had” (Pollock & Maitland I:173), and remains “a synonym for constitutional government” (Reams, 11-12). In “this beautiful and rare edition… The elegance of the typography is very great” (Thompson, 456). With engraved historiated initials depicting views of Oxford public buildings, engraved tailpiece vignettes of historical scenes and royal seals, and engraved dedication leaf. Text of documents in Latin; Blackstone’s essay in English. Half title and Tabula bound after page lxxvi. Sabin 10819. Viorst, Great Documents of Western Civilization, 112. Text clean and fine, expert restoration to contemporary calf boards. An excellent, wide-margined copy of this splendid edition.
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