An Original Handwritten Letter Signed by the Poet and Viceroy of India Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton to Sir Henry James Maine. Dated 1882. A letter to Maine discussing coming to Cambridge to meet up. Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton, 1831-1891 was an English statesman, Conservative politician and poet who used the pseudonym Owen Meredith. He served as Viceroy of India between 1876 and 1880—during his tenure, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India—and as British Ambassador to France from 1887 to 1891. Sir Henry James Sumner Maine 1822-1888, was a British Whig comparative jurist and historian. He is famous for the thesis outlined in his book Ancient Law that law and society developed "from status to contract." According to the thesis, in the ancient world individuals were tightly bound by status to traditional groups, while in the modern one, in which individuals are viewed as autonomous agents, they are free to make contracts and form associations with whomever they choose. Because of this thesis, Maine can be seen as one of the forefathers of modern legal anthropology, legal history and sociology of law. Size is 180mm x 115mm. Condition is good. Light folding creases. Rear flyleaf with gum marks.