Officium Vicecomitum, The Office and Authority of the Sheriffs..

1682. London: Richard Atkins, And Edward Atkins, 1682. London: Richard Atkins, And Edward Atkins, 1682. Expanded Edition of the First English Treatise on Sheriffs Dalton, Michael [d.ca. 1648]. Officium Vicecomitum. The Office and Authority of Sheriffs: Gathered Out of the Statutes, And Books of the Common Laws of this Kingdom. To which is Added an Appendix or Supplement, Containing a Collection of the Statutes Touching Sheriffs made Since Mr. Dalton's Writing, Which are in Force and Use at this day; Also Several Special Returns of Writs, And the expositions, Judgments, And Resolutions of the Reverend and Learned Judges, In the Several Courts at Westminster; Upon Divers Statutes, Cases and Questions in Law Relating to Sheriffs; And Several Other New Matters. The Whole, Being a Work of Great Use and Profit, Not Only to the Students and Practitioners in the Law, But to All Other the Gentry of this Land, (On Whom the Burthen of this Office Lyeth) Especially to All Immediate High-Sheriffs and Under-Sheriffs. With a New and Copious Table, Wherein the Defects and Imperfections of the Old Table are Supplyed and Amended. The New Matter is Inserted Likewise in the Table, Under Their Proper Heads, And Have this Mark * Set Before Them. Purged from the Errors of All Former Impressions. London: Printed for the assigns of Richard Atkins, and Edward Atkins, 1682. [iv], 500; [4], 501-564, [28] pp. Two parts with continuous pagination. The second part, Vicecomitis Officio Supplementum... has separate title page, dated 1681. Folio (11-3/4" x 7-1/2"). Contemporary sheep, blind rules to boards, blind fillets along joints, raised bands to spine. Moderate rubbing to boards and extremities, chipping to head of spine, front board beginning to separate but secure, corners bumped and somewhat worn, later owner bookplate of William Paine Sheffield to front pastedown, rear hinge cracked, upper section lacking from rear free endpaper. Moderate toning to text, occasional light foxing, faint dampstaining in a few places. $500. * Fourth edition. First issued in 1623, Dalton's was the first English treatise on sheriffs. As its title suggests, it is a remarkably comprehensive work. Holdsworth, who cites it several times, says "in spite of a growing number of rivals, it continued to be a standard authority until the beginning of the eighteenth century." A member of a distinguished New England family, Sheffield [1820-1907] was a United States R.