Very rare First Edition of this legal treatise on trade and commerce dedicated to America and the colonies.

Marquard (1610-68) was Mayor of Lübeck from 1663 until his death five years later. After being knighted by the Order of Knights of St. Mark in 1635 for outstanding diplomatic work in Padua, he returned to his native city and became a city council member. Having served as the town judge for many years he was appointed Mayor.

His work is considered "un ouvrage extremement important pour l'histoire du droit commercial dans tous les pays" [an extremely important work for the history of commercial law in all countries] (Leclerc). Marquard is thought to be the first writer to use the legal term ius mercatorum or 'the law of the merchant' which "constructed...a system that incorporated the specialism of merchantile usages and justice into the sphere- entirely judicial- of legal privileges". The text "considerably modified the perspective of previous commercial doctrine" by systematizing a set of legal rights for traders (Fortunati, 143). Volume One, written in Latin, also provides a mercantile history of Russia, Germany, England and other European countries. Volume Two is written in German and contains a variety of important documents including the text of the "Argonautica Gustaviana", which details the history of the Swedish South Company and its settlements in Pennsylvania under the leadership of William Usselincx. As well as including references to commerce with the New World it includes charters and agreements with colonial companies (European Americana).

First Edition; 2 volumes in one, folio (33 x 20 cm); engraved allegorical frontispiece by Daniel Theobald, some engraved initials and in-text illustrations throughout; some errors in pagination, occasional browning to later leaves; contemporary vellum with red morocco label to spine, a fine copy of this very scarce work.

Brunet Suppl. I, 969; Sabin 44661; Kress 1097; Goldsmiths 1676; not in Einaudi. JCN (3) III: 80; Leclerc 948 gives an incomplete collation; European Americana 662/86: Asher 42, and pp. 83-85 and 93-97.