Touchstone

Sheppard, William: The Touchstone of Common Assurances... Fifth ed. London, 1784. 1784

Sheppard, William [fl. 1660]. The Touchstone of Common Assurances: Or, A Plain and Familiar Treatise Opening the Learning of the Common Assurances, or Conveyances of the Kingdom. The Fifth Edition: Revised & Corrected, with Notes and Additional References by Edward Hilliard. To Which is Added a Copious Index. [London]: W. Strahan and W. Woodfall for P. Uriel, E. Brooke, T. Wheldon and R. Critchet, 1784. [xxiv], 504, [20] pp. Folio (9" x 14-1/2"). Original calf with attractive blind-stamped fillet, some scuffing to boards and backstrip, joints just starting. Occasional light foxing, text otherwise remarkably fresh. * With side-notes. The Touchstone is the earliest work devoted to the theory of conveyancing. Each chapter opens with a definition of a type of conveyance followed by an outline of the rules, principles and legal maxims that govern it. Sheppard's comments are supported by textual authorities and case examples and he includes variations, specific conditions and limitations. Sheppard's claim of authorship has been a point of controversy since the eighteenth century. Many scholars, including the editor of this edition, believe that the Touchstone was written as a manuscript for personal use by Sir John Dodderidge, a judge during the reign of Charles I. According to this theory, Sheppard purchased the manuscript at auction, then edited it for publication. Whether the author was Sheppard or Dodderidge, the treatise was an immediate success when it was published in 1648. It has been esteemed highly ever since. Kent stated that for "the soundness of its propositions, its succinct method and its excellent arrangement, this book is not surpassed by any book on the law" (cited in Sweet & Maxwell). Marvin, writing in 1847, adds: "The Touchstone is one of the most esteemed of the old treatises, a copious fountain of the law, relating to the transfer of real property, and is still vital and authoritative" (Marvin). And Holdsworth, writing in 1925, observes that it "is still regarded as a high authority on this subject." Marvin, Legal Bibliography (1847) 643. Holdsworth, Sources and Literature of English Law 124. Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations I:487. Matthews, William Sheppard, Cro

Details

Sewell, Kitty: Ice Trap: A Novel of Suspense, Old Tappan, New Jersey, U.S.A. Touchstone Books 2008 ; fester Einband / hard cover; Schutzumschlag / dust cover; 1. Ed. ISBN: 1416539972
1416539972 New/Fine

FIRST Touchstone EDITION, 1st Printing. 2008 Touchstone Books hard cover. NEW/FINE book in NEW/FINE dust jacket. GIFT QUALITY. Never read. Not a remainder. First Touchstone Edition, 1st Printing New/Fine Hard Cover 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall; First Touchstone Edition, 1st Printing

[SW: Fiction, Novels, Drama, Romance, Adventure, First Edition]

Details

King, Laurie R. Touchstone, New York, N.Y. Bantam Books 2007
0-553-80355-7 Very Good Condition

Hailed for her rich and powerful works of psychological suspense as well as her New York Times bestselling mysteries, Laurie R. King now takes us to a remote cottage in Cornwall where a gripping tale of intrigue, terrorism, and explosive passions begins with a visit to a recluse upon whom the fate of an entire nation may rest-a man code-named . . . It's eight years after the Great War shattered Bennett Grey's life, leaving him with an excruciating sensitivity to the potential of human violence, and making social contact all but impossible. Once studied by British intelligence for his unique abilities, Grey has withdrawn from a rapidly changing world-until an American Bureau of Investigation agent comes to investigate for himself Grey's potential as a weapon in a vicious new kind of warfare. Agent Harris Stuyvesant desperately needs Grey's help entering a world where the rich and the radical exist side by side-a heady mix of the powerful and the celebrated, among whom lurks an enemy ready to strike a deadly blow at democracy on both sides of the Atlantic. Here, among a titled family whose servants dress in whimsical costumes and whose daughter conducts an open affair with a man who wants to bring down the government, Stuyvesant finds himself dangerously seduced by one woman and-even more dangerously-falling in love with another. And as he sifts through secrets divulged and kept, he uncovers the target of a horrifying conspiracy, and wonders if he can trust his touchstone, Grey, to reveal the most dangerous player of all .... Building to an astounding climax on an ancient English estate,Touchstone is both a harrowing thriller by a master of the genre and a thought-provoking exploration of the forces that drive history-and human destinies. Publishers Weekly Set shortly before Britain's disastrous General Strike of 1926, this stand-alone thriller from bestseller King (Keeping Watch) offers impeccable scholarship and the author's usual intelligent prose, but a surfeit of period detail and some weighty themes-the gulf between rich and poor, the insidious nature of both terrorism and the efforts to curb it-overpower the thin plot and stock characters. When Harris Stuyvesant, an investigator for the U.S. Justice Department, arrives in London to look for the mastermind behind a series of terrorist bombings on American soil, he tells Aldous Carstairs, a sinister government official, that his prime suspect is Labour Party leader Richard Bunsen. Carstairs suggests Stuyvesant should talk to Bennett Grey, whose brush with death during WWI has heightened his sense of perception to the point that he's a kind of human lie detector (he's the "touchstone" of the title), and to Lady Laura Hurleigh, Bunsen's lover and a passionate advocate of his brand of socialism. The threat of violence at a secret summit meeting held at the Hurleigh family's country house about preventing the strike provides some mild suspense. Nancy McNicol - Library Journal With this new stand-alone, King once again departs from escapades of her series detectives .Realistic psychological drama, strong research, and impeccable writing style make this a tale not to be missed. Highly recommended. Hardcover 9.3 in x 6.8 in x 1.8 in

[SW: World War, 1914-1918 --Veterans --Fiction, Recluses --Fiction, Americans --England --Fiction, Terrorism --Fiction, Cornwall (England : County) --Fiction, Great Britain --History --George V, 1910-1936 --Fiction]

Details

Nasar, Sylvia: A Beautiful Mind: the Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash, New York Simon & Schuster 2001 ; weicher Einband / soft cover; Schutzumschlag / dust cover ISBN: 0743224574
0743224574 Fine

Fine. No dust jacket, as issued.Unknown printing. (pbk. ) 461 p. , [8] p. of plates: ill. ; 24 cm.Reprint. Previously published: A beautiful mind: a biography of John Forbes Nash, Jr. , winner of the Nobel Prize in economics, 1994. 1st Touchstone ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. "A Touchstone book. " Includes bibliographical references (p. [437]-439) and index. pt. 1. A beautiful mind--pt. 2. Separate lives--pt. 3. A slow fire burning--pt. 4. The lost years--pt. 5. The most worthy. The true story of John Nash, the math genius who was a legend by age thirty when he slipped into madness... Touchstone ed. No DJ Issued Trade pb; Touchstone ed.

[SW: Biography Mathematicians Mentally ill Nash, John F. Nonfiction Schizophrenics United States]

Details