Potter & Potter Auctions
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Circus, Sideshow & Oddities

Wed, Oct 23, 2019 02:30AM EDT
Lot 367

A 17th Century English Church Affidavit for Burial in Woollen.

Estimate: $200 - $400

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$30 $10
$100 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $200
$5,000 $500
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
$100,000 $10,000
A 17th Century English Church Affidavit for Burial in Woollen. English, mid-17th century (Reign of Charles the Second). Unaccomplished printed affidavit on laid paper, with woodcuts of a skeleton and wrapped corpse, which would certify the statutory requirement of burial of a person in woolen cloth. 4to (9 x 7 ??). Foxing along right edge, strike-through to ?Scotland.? Old horizontal folds, tipped onto a slip of paper. The Burying in Woollen Acts of 1666/80 required that all English subjects, except plague victims, be buried in a wool shroud, partly to discourage the importation of foreign textiles. A register would be maintained within each parish in which the affidavits were made.