Books and Manuscripts

The Workes of the Most High and Mightie Prince, James by the Grace of God, King of Great Britaine, France and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c
London: Printed by Robert Barker and John Bill, 1616. First edition, first issue. Folio. (xlii), 569, (1), (2, blank) pp. Edited by Bishop James Montague. Illustrated with an engraved portrait of James enthroned, by John Bill after Simon Pass, on verso of half-title, first state engraved title-page by Renold Elstrack, full-page wood-cut Royal Coat of Arms, small engraved vignette portrait of Prince Charles by Pass, and numerous wood-cut initials and head- and tail-pieces. Full mottled brown calf, yellow morocco spine label, spine and boards stamped in gilt, rebacked to style, extremities and boards dry and lightly worn; all edges trimmed; scattered light soiling to text. Pforzheimer 531; Lowndes, 1180

A handsome and scarce first edition of the collected works of English King James I; a volume “of great interest to the students of the development of the idea of the divine right of kings and other Stuart constitutional problems.” (Pforzheimer) An important work, prized for Simon Pass's engraved portrait of an enthroned James and Elstrack's elaborately engraved architectural title-page, while typographically it is “considered…one of the finest specimens of Jacobean book-production.” (Pforzheimer).