A pack of patentees. Opened. Shuffled. Cut. Dealt. And played

London: n.p., 1641. FIRST EDITION. Type ornament device on title and woodcut headpiece. Polished calf signed “F. Bedford, triple gilt fillet round sides, spine gilt, a.e.g. From the library of Lord Fairfax of Cameron with his armorial bookplate and the Huth bookplate (lot 5630, Sotheby’s sale of July 17, 1917). First edition of the very rare satire on the granting of monopolies. The anonymous author piles on the criticism of monopolies and patents granted on goods such as coal, soap, starch, leather, wine, salt, tobacco and butter. By the reign of James I, patents had become so numerous and unfairly granted that they were considered oppressive and unjust to certain classes of people, especially tradesmen and manufacturers. Except for “novel inventions,” the King was finally forced to revoke all existing monopolies and declare that henceforth patents were only to be used for “projects of new invention.” This “Statute of monopolies” enacted in 1624 became the foundation for all later developments in patent law in England and elsewhere. It was a fundamental landmark in the transition of Britain’s economy from the feudal to the capitalist.

Unfortunately, James’s successor, Charles I, continued to abuse the patent system and it was only during the Restoration that the abuse was finally curtailed. The present work, written during the reign of Charles I, bitterly describes the injustices within certain trades and industries.

Wing, P156; ESTC locates 4 copies in North America (Harvard, Huntington, NYPL, McGill).