A REPORT OF A CASE DECIDED IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, MARCH TERM, 1829. RESPECTING THE RIGHT OF THE UNITED STATES TO PROPERTY FOUND DERELICT ON THE HIGH SEAS. FROM THE AMERICAN JURIST AND LAW MAGAZINE, NO. III., JULY, 1829.
Boston: Freeman & Bolles, 81, Court Street, [1829]. [2], 21, [3 blank] pp. Plain brown wrappers with title in manuscript on label attached to front wrap [dustsoiled, edgeworn]. Document bound upside down. Stitched. Untrimmed, blank edges chipped. Scattered foxing, title page tanned. Old ink inscription on endpaper "Henry Cranston/ Bought at auction." Good+.
An admiralty case, decided by District Judge John Davis. Samuel Peabody, owner of the schooner Equality, brought suit claiming ownership of 28 "bags of cotton adrift at sea, abandoned by the owners." The Equality took it to Salem; the United States claimed that one-third of the moneys derived from sale of the cotton, after satisfying the Peabody and crew with two-thirds of the amount, should be paid to the Treasury of the United States. Judge Davis thoroughly examines the law of the sea, and concludes that the government's contention is correct: otherwise, if everything were awarded to the finders, "when the owners might appear it could seldom be recovered."
OCLC 49664749 [1], 22901692 [2]. Not in American Imprints, Sabin, Cohen. Item #21396
Price: $175.00