Quarto. [2], 21, [1], 70, 177pp, [1]; [2]. The terminal leaf contains a folio pedigree. Nineteenth century half-calf, tooled in gilt and blind, brown cloth boards, contrasting red morocco lettering-piece, carmine edges. Rubbed, spine sunned. Very occasional light spotting.

The first edition of a legal treatise defending Elizabeth Leveson- Gower, Duchess of Sutherland (1765-1839), who inherited the titles and significant estates of the Sutherland family after her parents died in a typhoid outbreak just weeks after her birth. The work, compiled on behalf of the six-year-old Elisabeth by Sir David Dalrymple, 3rd Baronet of Hailes (1726-1792), refutes the claims to the Earldom by both George Sutherland of Forse and Baronet Sir Robert Gordon, descendants of the first Earl of Sutherland. The House of Lords confirmed Elizabeth's claim to the title in 1771; her obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1839 described it as the 'most ancient title existing in Britain'.