Rousseaud - Recueil de jurisprudence civile - 1762

Guy Du Rousseaud de La Combe
Collection of civil jurisprudence of the land of written and customary law in alphabetical order. Fourth edition, considerably enlarged.
Paris, at Nyon fils, 1762.

Guy du Rousseaud de La Combe (deceased around 1749) was a criminalist and advocate at the Parliament of Paris and belonged to the most prominent jurists of France in the 18th century. His Recueil de jurisprudence civile appeared for the first time in 1746 and underwent several, each considerably expanded editions – 1752/53, 1756, 1762 and 1769. The 1762 edition constitutes the fourth edition and is regarded as substantially more extensive than the preceding editions.

The work is an alphabetically ordered reference on civil jurisprudence of both the written law (pays de droit écrit, i.e., the Roman-law-influenced southern France) and customary law (droit coutumier, i.e., northern France). It treats legal concepts, principles, and relevant judgments in clear, precise form and was a standard work of the French bar of the Ancien Régime. Wikipedia describes it as a model for all legal repertoires of its time, distinguished by “neatness and precision,” and emphasizes that it was indispensable within the old Bar. The work is today a sought-after bibliophilic testament of pre-revolutionary French legal science.

26x20,5. 500 pages. Worn full-leather binding of the period. Interior slightly browned, otherwise very well preserved. Beautiful marbled endpapers.