Two works, bound together, on the customary law of Hainaut; the first on the pays et côte, and the second on the capital city of Mons. Both were printed with royal privilege by Jehan Loë and his son Laurent at Hainaut in 1553. The earliest laws of Hainaut were outlined in three charters, of 1200, 141o, and 1483; the last was homologated in 1534 by Charles V, and first printed the same year. Our book appears to be the second printed edition, expanded, of the general coutume of Hainaut, and possibly the first edition of the specific municipal coutume of Mons. Caswell and Sipkov observe that the laws covered the towns of Mauberge, Landrecies, Avesnes, Beaumont, Chimay, Condé, Saint-Amand, and Quesnoy. The appearance of the two texts in French vernacular, in a compact, legible bâtarde, plainly written without oblique abbreviations and endless citations from Roman and Salic law,  and prefaced with short indices, meant that they were for the general use of ordinary people interested in the laws surrounding everything from succession and probate to murder and execution. According to Brunet, the two works were probably printed at the same time, and sold either as a pair or as separate works. Withal a very good, unassuming recueil, preserved in its original retail vellum wraps. 

8vo: 163 x 105 x 30 mm. I: †⁴, A-N⁸; [8], ccv [4] ff. II: *⁴, A-F⁸; [6], [2], xciiii, [2] ff. Both copies complete, with all blanks. Contemporary retail vellum wraps, later paper lettering-piece to spine.  Covers soiled and cockled; two sewing stations broken; text block loose in case but holding due to old tacketing repair. Original endpaper structures in place. Interior: Some small dog-ears, light soiling passim. Very good copies. 

Provenance: Custodial signature of one F. du Mont, dated 1636, to first free end; small, unidentified paper shelfmark [249] to spine; scribbled-out signature to head of title of first work; one or two modern cataloguers' notes in pencil to ends; illegible c18 notation in ink to lower cover.  

I: Caswell & Sipkov, no. 359; Cockx-Indestege, no. 1978; Brunet II, 371. II: Cockx-Indestege, No. 1981; Brunet II, 371.

Item #365