The Danish Laws: or, the Code of Christian the Fifth. Faithfully translated for the Use of the English Inhabitants of the Danish Settlements in America.

£3,250 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A very good copy. After numerous attempts to establish a colony in the West Indies, in 1754 Christian V purchased St. Croix from the French formally establishing a royal Danish Colony. A compendium of laws relating to their governance was issued almost immediately and this is the first English translation. In the preliminary advertisement the translator notes that he has “omitted the Second Book entirely; and in the other Books several Articles … peculiar to Denmark and Norway respectively … [not providing] any real Emolument to the English Inhabitants of the Danish Territories in America.” Divided into five books, the first deals with the judiciary, the next to civil and domestic affairs, the fourth to maritime affairs (including shipwreck), the fifth to property and possessions and the sixth to criminal cases.

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