The Life of the Learned Sir Thomas Smith, Kt, Doctor of the Civil Law

1698. A Biography of an Important Scholar and Diplomat [Strype, John (1643-1737)]. The Life of the Learned Sir Thomas Smith, Kt. Doctor of the Civil Law; Principal Secretary of State to King Edward the Sixth, And Queen Elizabeth. Wherein are Discovered Many Singular Matters Relating to the State of Learning, The Reformation of Religion, And the Transactions of the Kingdom, During His Time. In All Which He had a Great and Happy Influence. With an Appendix, Wherein are Contained Some Works of His, Never Before Published. London: Printed for A. Roper and R. Basset, 1698. [xxiv], 240, 134, 137-145, p. 147, [4] pp. Text continuous and complete despite pagination. With a copperplate portrait frontispiece, 4 folding tables, a map and a half-page illustration. Octavo (7" x 4-1/4"). Contemporary paneled calf, corner fleurons to boards, raised bands, blind fillets and lettering piece to spine, gilt tooling to board edges, edges of text block speckled. Moderate rubbing to extremities, front joint starting, chipping to head of spine, corners bumped and lightly worn, front hinge cracked, rear hinge starting, early armorial bookplate of the Belasyse family to front pastedown. Light toning, light foxing in a few places, trimming to fore-edge just touching side notes without loss on a few pages, faint offsetting from plates. A handsome copy. $500. * Only edition. Smith, an influential English scholar and diplomat, was Regius Professor of Civil Law at Cambridge University. He is perhaps best known as the author of De Republica Anglorum (1st ed. 1583), "the most important description of the constitution and government of England written in the Tudor age" (DNB). Our copy of his biography has the bookplate of someone in the Belasyse family. A number of family members were active in English politics. Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) XVIII:535. English Short-Title Catalogue R33819. (Inventory #: 81889)