The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights:

first book in English to use the phrase 'women's rights'

The first edition of the first book in the English language devoted to the laws and legal rights of women, and the first to use the phrase 'women's rights'.

The Lawes Resolutions of Womens Rights appeared during a period when women were severely restricted under the law; the doctrine of coverture dictated that a wife was not a legal entity unto herself, and common law often disadvantaged women in matters of property inheritance. This anonymous treatise served not only as a reference book for the legal profession, but also as a practical guide for women readers, enabling them to identify and claim legal protections to which they had recourse. Subjects discussed include divorce, dowagers, hermaphroditism, polygamy, promises of marriage, rape, and wooing.

The authorship of the book is uncertain. The preface is signed by 'I.L.', who notes the text was 'long since collected' and the author deceased; and editorial contributions are credited to 'T.E.' (believed to be one Thomas Edgar). The most plausible author is Sir John Dodderidge (1555-1628), who studied at Exeter College, Oxford, and had an accomplished legal career. Having been called to the bar in 1585, he was created a bencher at the Middle Temple in 1603, was made Serjeant-at-Law in 1604, and took up the office of Solicitor-General later that year. In 1612 he was appointed a justice on the court of the King's Bench, where he remained until his death.

The early modern period yielded very few books dealing specifically with the law as it pertained to women. After The Lawes Resolutions, it took 68-years for another to appear, Baron and Feme: A Treatise of the Common Law Concerning Husbands and Wives (1719), with an extended version published in 1732 as A Treatise of Feme Coverts: Or, the Lady's Law, Containing All the Laws and Statutes Relating to Women.

With excellent provenance for the diarist Henry Prescott (1649-1719), with his ownership inscription in pen to the opening blank leaf, recording also the rice he paid for the book: 'Lib: Hen[ri]ci: Prescott [cypher] 3s - 6d 1670'. On his death his book passed down to Kenrick Prescot (c.1702-1779), thence to Charles Prescot (1745-1820), when the library was eventually dispersed in the Catalogue of the Library, Cabinet of Coins and Roman Antiquities of the late Rev. Charles Prescot..., Rev. Kenrick Prescot..., and Henry Prescot... (Stockport, John Broster, 9th April 1823).

Our copy was later acquired by the Scottish jurist and Liberal politician William Alexander Hunter (1844-1898). Hunter entered Middle Temple in 1865 and was called to the English bar two years later. In 1869 he was appointed Professor of Roman Law at University College, London, which he resigned in 1878 for the chair in Jurisprudence. Under the influence of the philosopher John Stuart Mill, Hunter became active in the movement for the political enfranchisement of women, being among the first to open his classes to female students. In 1882 he resigned his professorship to pursue a career in politics, duly being elected Member of Parliament for Aberdeen North, where Hunter was one of the first MPs to advocate for the introduction of a statutory old age pension.

First edition; 4to (19.5 x 15 cm); woodcut initials and headpieces, early ownership inscription to title, dated 17th-century inscription to front blank f. recto, engraved bookplate and old library annotations in pencil to front pastedown, a little toned, the odd early paper repair to margin, small wormtrack to opening gathering, overall a wide-margined copy complete with the original blank f.; contemporary blind-ruled calf, joints expertly restored preserving the original spine, corners repaired, an excellent example; [16], 404pp.

ESTC S100217.