Lot 347 , Collection of 97 bonds, 1652-1814

Collection of 97 bonds, 1652-1814 The penal bond was a means of guaranteeing the performance of an obligation, and by the 17th century had become a standard part of legal practice. Bonds could be used to ensure that covenants in conveyances, leases and mortgages were adhered to, or to secure a simple loan; in all cases the bond was made out in twice the value of the obligation, which would be forfeit were the undertaking not performed. Bonds appear most famously in Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, in which Shylock protects his loan to Antonio with a bond specifying the forfeit of a pound of flesh.
Bonds consisted of two parts: the obligation, written in Latin until 1654 and again from 1660-1733, and the condition of the obligation, written in English throughout.
The origin of these bonds is obscure, but they show signs of having been pasted into albums, suggesting an artificial collection.
The bonds have been arranged by the home counties of the beneficiary of the bond. They survive from the following counties, with the number and dates for each in brackets: Bedfordshire (1, 1685), Buckinghamshire (4, 1661-1691), Cambridgeshire (1, 1692), Cheshire (1, 1654), Essex (1, 1689), Gloucestershire (1, 1695), Hampshire (8, 1659-1706), Hertfordshire (2, 1659-1670), Huntingdonshire (5, 1731-1774), Kent (10, 1664-1692), Leicestershire (6, 1655-1682), Lincolnshire (1, 1746), London and Middlesex (4, 1656-1680), Norfolk (5, 1662-1814), Northamptonshire (13, 1652-1691), Nottinghamshire (1, 1693), Oxfordshire (15, 1658-1728), Suffolk (4, 1656-1707), Surrey (6, 1654-1678), Sussex (4, 1653-1690), Warwickshire (3, 1668-1679) and Worcestershire (1, 1677).
Each is in a protected sleeve, annotated with the county, the date and (if discernible) the purpose of the bond.
£80-120

Sold for £220