Book Description

Excerpt from The Excellent Priviledge of Liberty and Property: Being a Reprint and Fac-Simile of the First American Edition of Magna Charta, Printed in 1687 Under the Direction of William Penn The little volume which contained the first American issue of the Charter is entitled The Excellent Priviledge of Liberty and Property: being the Birth-right of the Free-bom Subjects of England. Besides extensive extracts fi'om the Charter and Coke's Comments thereon, it contains the confirmation of the charters of the liberties of England and of the Forest, made in the twenty-fifth year of Edward I.; a statute made in Edward's thirty-fourth year, commonly called De Tallagr'o non coucedendo an abstract of the Royal Charter Of Pennsylvania; and the Charter of liberties granted by William Penn to the fiee men of his province. It was printed by William Bradford, who, in 168 5, had introduced the art of printing into the Middle Colo nies of North America; but it was undoubtedly prepared for the press by William Penn, then in England; for David Lloyd, in 1728, quoted the book as the work of Penn in A Defence of the Legislative Constitutions of the Province of Pennsyl vania. Moreover, Mr. Hildebum, in his Press of Pennsyl vania, has pointed out that Lloyd was then (1728) attomey general of the Province; and, as the latter had been on fi'icndly terms with Penn, as early as 1687, his unchallenged statement is conclusive. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.