Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons, Under Separate..

1781. London: Printed by H. Hughs, 1781.. London: Printed by H. Hughs, 1781. Richard Brinsley Sheridan's Copy of an Important Work on Parliamentary Procedure Hatsell, John [1743-1820]. [Sheridan, Richard Brinsley (1751-1816)]. Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons, Under Separate Titles; With Observations. London: Printed by H. Hughs, 1781. xi, 247, [32] pp. Quarto (8" x 10-1/2"). Nineteenth-century calf with later rebacking retaining existing spine, which has gilt fillets and red and black lettering pieces, gilt tooling to board edges, endpapers renewed. Light rubbing and a few minor nicks and scuffs to boards, light gatoring to perimeters of boards, moderate rubbing to board edges, corners bumped and worn. Light browning to interior, light foxing to sections of text, retained armorial bookplate of Richard Brinsley Sheridan to front pastedown, his signature to head of title page. $1,850. * First edition. Holdsworth cites this book several times at length and says it is "[p]erhaps the most important book on a particular topic connected with Parliament." Contents: "Members," "Rules of Proceeding," "Speaker," "Clerk, "Fees, "King." Complete in itself, this volume was later issued as Volume II of a four-volume set. The books later designated Volumes I and III were originally published in 1776 and 1785. In 1818 a new volume, designated Volume IV, was issued with reissues of the others with volume numbers. Famous today as the author of The Rivals (1775), The School for Scandal (1777) and other plays, Sheridan had parallel careers as a theater owner and Whig politician. He sat in the British House of Commons from 1780 to 1812, representing the constituencies of Stafford, Westminster and Ilchester, and served as treasurer of the navy from 1806 to 1807. Holdsworth, A History of English Law XII:345-46. English Short-Title Catalogue T114572.