[American Provenance] Lambarde, Eirenarcha

Lambarde, William. [EIRENARCHA, OR OF THE OFFICE OF THE IUSTICES OF PEACE….] [London], [ca. 1619.] 6.5" x 4.25". Defective, lacking all before A3 (including title.) Period calf boards, rebacked in morocco. ******** A defective copy of this legal work but boasting an important American provenance of the Lewis Morris family. The front pastedown bears the engraved bookplate of Lewis Morris (III, 1726-1798, see below), one of the signors of the Declaration of Independence. He was the third "Lewis Morris" in the family, having been named after his father, Lewis Morris Jr. (1698-1762, a colonial judge and significant landowner), and his grandfather, Lewis Morris Sr. (1671-1746, chief justice of New York and British governor of New Jersey.) The bookplate is also signed later in 1820 by Robert H. Morris, a descendant, whose signature also appears on at least one leaf of text. There are several instances of marginal notes to the text as well, likely in the hand of one of the Morrises mentioned.Bookplate here compared with that held by Yale, who identifies this bookplate as belonging to the third Lewis Morris.
Condition Report: Sold as-is with all faults. Defective in text. Endpapers renewed, several leaves with repairs, a variety of stains in places throughout including some water-staining, foxing and toning, a few leaves chipped with mostly minor loss of text.