Eirenarcha:

The standard authority. The second appearance of this important legal manual on the administration of local justice in Tudor England, which remained the standard authority on the subject well into the modern age.

The Eirenarcha (from the Greek for 'justice of peace') deals firstly with the office and duties imposed upon the Justices, from the origins of their authority, which derives directly from the King by letters patent, to their powers to put down riots and force entry, and secondly with the courts of quarter sessions where cases would be heard.

Lambard[e] (1536-1601) was called to the bar in 1567 as a member of Lincoln's Inn. He is chiefly remembered for his activities as an antiquarian, publishing the first English county history with his Perambulations of Kent in 1570, and for his Eirenarcha, which drew upon his experiences as a member of the Commission of the Peace for Kent.

The detailed list of indictments given in the fourth chapter of book two offers a fascinating insight into the fabric of sixteenth century society, with offences named for 'prophecying', anti-sacramentalism, rape of maid or child (under 10 years age), sodomy 'with man, or beast', prison breaks, and for the 'art of multiplication of gold or silver'.

First edition, second printing; 8vo (17.5 x 12 cm); woodcut title with woodcut arms to verso, woodcut device to last f. of text verso, woodcut initials, head and tailpieces, final blank f. present, MS note in pen to front free endpaper (retained from earlier binding) above partially obscured ownership inscription, annotation in pen to title upper margin, a little tightly bound, light soiling and occasional minor spotting, S1 and S2 gutter margin reinforced in tape, well-margined; modern half brown morocco, marbled paper boards, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece to spine, later endpapers; [8], 511, [15]pp.

ESTC S108154; Beale T388.