Folio. Two volumes bound as one. x, 813pp, [57]. With a terminal leaf of publisher's advertisements. Contemporary calf, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece. Rubbed and marked, slight loss to head and foot of spine. Contemporary inked ownership inscription of James Ewing to recto of FFEP, very occasional light spotting.

A revised and enlarged edition of jurist and advocate John Erskine of Carnock's (1695-1768) authoritative and influential account of Scots law, first published posthumously in 1773, from the Scottish library of a plantation owner.

James Ewing of Strathleven (1775-1853) was one of Glasgow's most successful businessmen, sometime MP (1832-5) and Lord Provost (1832-3) for the city, and kept significant holdings of land and slaves in Jamaica. An influential plantation owner, he was instrumental in the establishment of the anti-abolition lobbying group Glasgow West India Association.