1673 Defence of Amicia

Updated August 6, 2026

Lot number	8
Auction	1066: Rare Books & Bookworm, ONLINE-ONLY Sale
Date	August 9, 2026 at 5:00 PM EDT
Auction house	Addison & Sarova Auctioneers
Location	Social Circle, Georgia

Estimate: 100 / 1000 Mainwaring, Thomas. A REPLY TO AN ANSWER TO THE DEFENCE OF AMICIA, DAUGHTER OF HUGH CYVELIOK EARL OF CHESTER. WHEREIN IT IS PROVED, THAT THE REASONS ALLEADGED BY SIR PETER LEICESTER... CONCERNING THE ILLEGITIMACY OF THE SAID AMICIA ARE INVALID, AND OF NO WEIGHT AT ALL. London: Printed for S. Lowndes over against Exeter-House in the Strand, 1673. 12mo. [2], 105, [1] pp. 19th century binding, with hinges repaired. FIRST EDITION. RARE. A scarce contribution to one of the best-known genealogical controversies of Restoration England. Sir Thomas Mainwaring here defends the legitimacy of Amicia, daughter of Hugh Cyvelioc, Earl of Chester, in direct response to Sir Peter Leicester's attacks upon her lineage. The dispute carried significance well beyond antiquarian curiosity, as the legitimacy of Amicia affected the hereditary claims of several prominent noble families, making this an important work in seventeenth-century English genealogy and peerage history. Condition: Spine with chips and wear, contents with some light to moderate foxing (heaviest to title-page), some page-numbers shaved at head. Good.

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