[Votes of the House of Commons]

[London]: [Printed by Charles Bill and Thomas Newcomb, Printers to the King and Queens most Excellent Majesties], [1689]. 74 issues. 148pp. Without title (c/f ESTC P469586 which mentions a title to 1st and 28th issue, but also mentions numbers published in Oxford, which is not the case in this set); interestingly, the only other set of this series that we have sold (The Lowther Castle collection) also lacked the general title. [Bound with:] Votes of the House of Commons in the parliament Began at Westminster The 20th day of March, in the Second Year of the Reign of King william and Queen mary, Anno Domini, 1689. London. Printed by Richard Bently, Thomas Bradyll and Robert Everingham, 1690. 46 issues [of 47, lacking no.42]. [16], 5-82pp, 85-94pp. The eight leaves before the pagination begins in any logical sense include the license to print [2], title leaf [2], and the first two numbers of this serial publication. ESTC R202868. Folio. Two volumes in one. Contemporary reverse calf, panelled in blind with an elaborate gilt armorial supralibros of the Town of Brecon to the centre of each board. Slightly rubbed, some loss to leather at the foot of spine, extremities, upper joint split at foot (boards remain, nevertheless, very firmly attached). A choice collection - rarely encountered commercially or institutionally - of the serially published daily proceedings and division lists for the Commons in the months of heady constitutionalism after the Glorious Revolution. Most significantly, this includes the acceptance onto the statute book of the Bill of Rights, constitutionally momentous amongst Anglophone jurisprudence, which remains regularly cited in legal cases - as a cornerstone of the English constitution - and directly influenced the 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights, and thus in turn the Declaration of Independence. The first elected parliament after the Revolution and Convention parliament which appointed William and Mary as English monarchs operated in a dynamic of enhanced constitutional significance, but was also faced with the usual pressing needs of public finance and the execution of wars, including a bitter Irish conflict - which is frequently referred to in these documents. The lists of resolutions and divisions which this collection represents reflect the mundane need to maintain orderly Parliamentary governance, whilst simultaneously reforming the English constitution, thus providing a work-a-day historical record of the proposal and later passing of some truly significant acts. The first mention of Bill of Rights appears on the second number of the first series, dated 24th October 1689 when 'a Bill for Establishing the Rights of the Subject' is referred to a committee. On the 6th November the first true act of business mentioned in the report for that day, numbered the 11th, simply notes that 'A Bill for Declaration the Rights and Liberties of the Subject...was Read the third time, and passed, and sent to the Lords for their Concurrence'. The 27th number, dated 25th November, reports on 'A Message from the Lords, That they had Agreed to the Bill for declaring the Rights and Liberties of the Subject....with some Amendments; to which they desired the Concurrence of this House'. Without further mention, or any pomp or ceremony, the Bill is then reported as being brought onto the statute books on 16 December 1689 and recorded simply as '[Royal Assent was given]...to the Bill for Declaring the Rights of the Subject, and Settling the Succession of the Crown', alongside the presentation of more mundane matters, such as royal finances and private Bills. Outside of the UK, ESTC locates copies of each series at just a single location (Otago), and the second. .