1584 Justitia Britannica; latin of The Execution of Justice in England, by Cecil

The 1584 Latin edition of William Cecil's (1583) The Execution of Justice in England... which defended the execution of the Catholic missionaries (including Thomas Campion) in 1581, expounding the merits of the punishment as essential to England's future.

Cecil (the 1st Baron Burghley) was the personal advisor of Queen Elizabeth. His views and actions led (in-part) to the 1587 execution of Mary, Queen of Scots. He had a storied career, and books have been written on his life and its influence on Elizabethan England.

This work instigated counter-works from Catholics, decrying the ideas of Cecil and claiming that the Catholics were harmless and certainly not deserving of death.

The Queen seems to have landed somewhere in the middle; in 1584, she began to use exile, rather than execution, for Catholics (Mercy and Authority in the Tudor State, Kesselring, p.88, 2003).

Justitia Britannica was published anonymously, but since its earliest days it has been accredited to Cecil. W. Herle, in 1584, in a letter to the queen attributed the work to Cecil. The historian, John Strype, reported seeing a draft of the work written in Cecil's hand.

Printed at the same time, and here included, but with its own title page, is another anonymous work, De Summar eorum Clementia... whose full title seems to suggest the author thought the tortures and execution of the Catholics was somehow leniency in light of their treason. This work has been attributed to Thomas Norton (although others attribute it to Cecil), the official censor of Catholics from 1581-1584, nicknamed "Rackmaster-General". Ironically, he became too Puritan, was thrown in the Tower of London himself (1584), and although rescued by allies, died from the undermining of his health while in the Tower.

Bibliographers contend that the publisher's mark is false. Many consider the true printer to be Jean le Preux in Geneva. The purpose of this Latin edition was to transmit Cecil's thoughts on religion and treason throughout the learned on the continent.

This work is scarce; at the time of posting I can't find a copy of the English or Latin translation available for purchase (using Vialibri). I've also had difficulty finding examples of this Latin edition selling at auction.

Bibliographic Details -

Universal Short Title Catalogue (USTC) number 452047, 509958 and 509933; not rare, found in many of the world's best libraries.

English Short Title Catalogue number S125297.

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 16.5 x 9.5 x 1 cm. Vellum binding with remains of ties. Signed in 8 (octavo).

Pages - ii (title page leaf), 1-75, three blank pages, ii (second title page), 1-13, last leaf's verso blank

Collation - A-F8

Condition -

See pictures. Vellum binding heavily thumbed and most of the ties are expired. There is creasing to the vellum. Paper toned throughout. One very small wormhole in first two leaves. A little darkening towards the top edge. Occasional moisture mark from bottom edge. Leaf A2 with a stain (tea?). Stray ink mark on A3r. Top-edge trimmed tight. A few ink spots near the top corner along text block, which can be seen in the outer margin of the leaves. More ink marks on A6v. B2 with similar stain to A2. C2 with a 1" circle in the paper (from production). C3r with stray ink mark. D2 with several circles like C2, and again on D2, E2 and F2; it's like that the area of the pages of 2 were stained before the leaves were printed or folded into gatherings. Pages a little more toned towards rear. Some dog-eared pages.