[CHARLES I, POOR LAW]

£1,250 · Offered by Sokol Books

.First edition of this landmark in Poor Law Reform; a very good wide-margined copy. This is one of three variants issued the same year, and the only one to list the Privy Counsellors and their responsibilities. ESTC cites 4 UK copies of this variant (not in the British Library) and 3 more in America. A special body of 'Commissioners for the Poor' was set up in June 1630, the first recorded Poor Law Commissioners. This "Book of Orders" was the medium for the promulgation of the rules and procedures for the regulation of the Poor. It was distributed to Justices of the Peace by King Charles I on 31 January 1631, having been drafted by the Lord Chief Justice; the work has been regarded as the "centre-piece of Charles I's policies towards his subjects during his personal rule", which lasted from 1629 until 1640. The purpose of The Book was to ensure "better administration of justice ... relief of the poor and ... reformation of disorders", greatly increasing the control of Charles' government over what had until then been largely local affairs handled by the local gentry.. . The Book of Orders demanded more from the aristocratic elite and was one of the grievances which contributed to Charles Personal Rule coming to an end. . .. In 1629 and 1630 there were two consecutive poor harvests, the latter being 50% deficient across England. This had devastating effects on the poor, whose diet contained large quantities of bread. The King, Charles I, who was ruling without parliament, havi

• Binding: Hardcover

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