London: Printed by Thomas Wight and Bonham Norton, 1598. First edition. 8vo. Late 19th-century full morocco, stamped in blind, rubbed; some very light intermittent spotting. Provenance: Godfrey Wentworth (1773-1834), former sheriff of Yorkshire ca. 1796-97 (ownership book-plate). Beale T-413; Mellon/Podeschi 15; Schwerdt II, p. 7; STC 17291; Sweet and Maxwell I, p. 465, no. 38

First edition of the earliest treatise on English forest laws. A Treatise and Discourse of the Lawes of the Forrest comprises the revised and expanded edition of a pamphlet written and privately circulated by gamekeeper of Waltham Forest and Justice in Eyre of the New Forest, John Manwood, in 1592. For over 350 years following its initial publication, his work was considered to be the standard text on forest law.