The Second Volume conteinying those Statutes vvhiche haue ben made in the tyme of the most victoriouse reigne of kyng Henrie the Eight.

18 volumes. A remarkable collection of 17 sets of statutes, with table, covering most of the reign of Henry VIII but omitting the years 1516-1529 (except Jan.-Apr. 1516, Apr.-Aug. 1523 and Nov.-Dec. 1529), a period for which STC records no chronological series of statutes other than the exceptions mentioned. Black letter with some Roman, woodcut borders to 7 parts, many woodcut initials of various sizes, 7 woodcut royal arms. Folio, later speckled quarter-calf over boards. ff. [viii] + x + lii (f. xxxix missing and xi guarded) + xiv + xxviii + xxiv + xxviii + sciii + xlii + xxvi + xlvi + xxvi + xxx + lxxviii (pp. xv-xvi missing) + lxxvi] + [xlviii] (ff. xvii-xviii] missing) + [xxxii] + [xxxvi], some ll. misnumbered. Very good and well preserved copies, first and last volumes a bit browned at the corners with some repair at edges, title-page to last restored, some old staining from damp to margins of Vols 15 and 16.

Edizione: an absolutely remarkable collection. the various parts were printed over a number of years between 1538 and 1557 and "possibly because some sessions of henry viii's reign were always in stock, berthelet and his successors --t. powell and t. marsh-- preferred to continue printing them individually with 9303.4 functioning as general title-page and table." (stc i420). it is highly unusual now to find all the parts together. (all of ours are printed by berthelet except 3 by powell).<br> as expected, the king's marital instability and issues concerning the succession spawned an excessive quantity of paperwork: there are acts relating to the divorce of catherine of aragon and of anne of cleves, the alleged treason committed by anne boleyn (already executed), the recognition of lady jane grey as queen, the exclusion of elizabeth from the succession (though she was later reinstated), and the death sentence for catherine howard. of greater long-term importance are the act of supremacy (1534) which transferred the pope's juridical powers in england to the king, the statute dissolving the monasteries (1536), and the statutes of wales (1534-1536) which brought the principality into legal union with england. united with our offering of the earliest set of statutes (the preceding volume), they provide the earliest complete edition of the english statutes and they are almost never found together.