Difference between revisions of "Civil Law in its Natural Order"

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<big>The Civil Law in its Natural Order: Together with the Public Law</big>
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<big>''The Civil Law in its Natural Order: Together with the Public Law''</big>
 
===by Jean Domat===
 
===by Jean Domat===
 
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|publisher=Printed by J. Bettenham, for E. Bell
 
|publisher=Printed by J. Bettenham, for E. Bell
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|desc=Folio (33 cm.)
}}[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Domat Jean Domat] (1625-1696), one of the most celebrated jurists of Louis XIV’s reign,<ref>David Parker, "Sovereignty, Absolutism and the Function of the Law in Seventeenth-Century France," ''Past & Present'', 122, (Feb. 1989), 44.</ref> helped lay the foundations for French civil law.<ref>James Gordley, "The State's Private Law and Legal Academia," ''The American Journal of Comparative Law'', 56, no. 3 (2008), 645.</ref> His work,  ''Lois Civiles dans leur Ordre Naturel'' (1689), proposes a fault-based model for liability that is grounded in the rational deduction of self-evident principles.<ref>Peter Stein, "The Attraction of Civil Law in Post-Revolutionary America," ''Virginia Law Review'', 52, no. 3 (1966), 406-7.</ref><br />   
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}}[[File:DomatCivilLawInItsNaturalOrder1722Illustration.jpg|left|thumb|250px|<center>Table of descents, volume one.</center>]][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Domat Jean Domat] (1625-1696), one of the most celebrated jurists of Louis XIV’s reign,<ref>David Parker, "Sovereignty, Absolutism and the Function of the Law in Seventeenth-Century France," ''Past & Present'', 122, (Feb. 1989), 44.</ref> helped lay the foundations for French civil law.<ref>James Gordley, "The State's Private Law and Legal Academia," ''The American Journal of Comparative Law'', 56, no. 3 (2008), 645.</ref> His work,  ''Lois Civiles dans leur Ordre Naturel'' (1689), proposes a fault-based model for liability that is grounded in the rational deduction of self-evident principles.<ref>Peter Stein, "The Attraction of Civil Law in Post-Revolutionary America," ''Virginia Law Review'', 52, no. 3 (1966), 406-7.</ref><br />   
 
<br />
 
<br />
 
In ''Lois Civiles dans leur Ordre Naturel'', Domat set out to reorganize French customary law in a way that would be consistent with Cartesian thought while remaining grounded in both Christian morality and Roman law.<ref>William F. Church, "The Decline of the French Jurists as Political Theorists, 1660-1789," ''French Historical Studies'', 5, no. 1 (1967), 16.</ref> From this framework, Domat was able to establish his first premise&mdash;that social order and stability were essential to man&mdash;and from that premise he derived what he believed were the primary rules of society.<ref>Gerald A. Greenberger, "Lawyers Confront Centralized Government: Political Thought of Lawyers during the Reign of Louis XIV," ''The American Journal of Legal History'', 23, no. 2 (1979), 174.</ref> After initial publication in 1689, ''Lois Civiles dans leur Ordre Naturel'' was translated into English in 1722 as ''Civil Law in the Natural Order''. The title influenced civil law across the world and the 1722 translation proved to be influential in shaping the thoughts and opinions of founding fathers in America.<ref>Stein, “The Attraction of Civil Law in Post-Revolutionary America,” 406-7.</ref>
 
In ''Lois Civiles dans leur Ordre Naturel'', Domat set out to reorganize French customary law in a way that would be consistent with Cartesian thought while remaining grounded in both Christian morality and Roman law.<ref>William F. Church, "The Decline of the French Jurists as Political Theorists, 1660-1789," ''French Historical Studies'', 5, no. 1 (1967), 16.</ref> From this framework, Domat was able to establish his first premise&mdash;that social order and stability were essential to man&mdash;and from that premise he derived what he believed were the primary rules of society.<ref>Gerald A. Greenberger, "Lawyers Confront Centralized Government: Political Thought of Lawyers during the Reign of Louis XIV," ''The American Journal of Legal History'', 23, no. 2 (1979), 174.</ref> After initial publication in 1689, ''Lois Civiles dans leur Ordre Naturel'' was translated into English in 1722 as ''Civil Law in the Natural Order''. The title influenced civil law across the world and the 1722 translation proved to be influential in shaping the thoughts and opinions of founding fathers in America.<ref>Stein, “The Attraction of Civil Law in Post-Revolutionary America,” 406-7.</ref>
 
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{{BookPageBookplate
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
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|imagename=DomatCivilLawInItsNaturalOrder1722Bookplate.jpg
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|display=left
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|caption=Armorial bookplate of Scott of Balcomie, front pastedown, volume two.
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}}==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
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Wythe refers to Domat ("we are informed in Domat ...") in [[Love v. Donelson and Hodgson]].<ref>George Wythe, "Love against Donelson and Hodgson," (Richmond: s.n., 1801), 16.</ref> Brown's Bibliography<ref>Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433</ref> notes this and includes the first English edition (1722) of Domat's ''The Civil Law in its Natural Order'' based on the copy [[Thomas Jefferson]] sold to the Library of Congress.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson’’, 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 2:405 [no.2212].</ref> The Wolf Law Library followed Brown's suggestion and purchased William Strahan's first English transation.
  
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
Bound in contemporary calf with paneled boards, raised bands, and lettering pieces on the spine. Contains attractive woodcut head-pieces and tail-pieces and a full-page copperplate table of descents.<br />
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Bound in contemporary calf with paneled boards, raised bands, and lettering pieces on the spine. Contains attractive woodcut head-pieces and tail-pieces and a full-page copperplate table of descents. Includes the armorial bookplate of Scott of Balcomie on the front pastedown of both volumes.<br />
 
<br />
 
<br />
 
View this title in [https://catalog.swem.wm.edu/law/Record/3439235 William & Mary's online catalog].
 
View this title in [https://catalog.swem.wm.edu/law/Record/3439235 William & Mary's online catalog].
  
===References===
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==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  

Revision as of 12:15, 10 February 2014

The Civil Law in its Natural Order: Together with the Public Law

by Jean Domat

The Civil Law in its Natural Order
DomatCivilLaw1722v1.jpg

Title page from The Civil Law in its Natural Order, volume one, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.

Author Jean Domat
Editor {{{editor}}}
Translator William Strahan
Published London: Printed by J. Bettenham, for E. Bell
Date 1722
Edition {{{edition}}}
Language English
Volumes 2 volume set
Pages {{{pages}}}
Desc. Folio (33 cm.)
Location [[Shelf {{{shelf}}}]]
  [[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]
Table of descents, volume one.
Jean Domat (1625-1696), one of the most celebrated jurists of Louis XIV’s reign,[1] helped lay the foundations for French civil law.[2] His work, Lois Civiles dans leur Ordre Naturel (1689), proposes a fault-based model for liability that is grounded in the rational deduction of self-evident principles.[3]


In Lois Civiles dans leur Ordre Naturel, Domat set out to reorganize French customary law in a way that would be consistent with Cartesian thought while remaining grounded in both Christian morality and Roman law.[4] From this framework, Domat was able to establish his first premise—that social order and stability were essential to man—and from that premise he derived what he believed were the primary rules of society.[5] After initial publication in 1689, Lois Civiles dans leur Ordre Naturel was translated into English in 1722 as Civil Law in the Natural Order. The title influenced civil law across the world and the 1722 translation proved to be influential in shaping the thoughts and opinions of founding fathers in America.[6]

Armorial bookplate of Scott of Balcomie, front pastedown, volume two.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Wythe refers to Domat ("we are informed in Domat ...") in Love v. Donelson and Hodgson.[7] Brown's Bibliography[8] notes this and includes the first English edition (1722) of Domat's The Civil Law in its Natural Order based on the copy Thomas Jefferson sold to the Library of Congress.[9] The Wolf Law Library followed Brown's suggestion and purchased William Strahan's first English transation.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in contemporary calf with paneled boards, raised bands, and lettering pieces on the spine. Contains attractive woodcut head-pieces and tail-pieces and a full-page copperplate table of descents. Includes the armorial bookplate of Scott of Balcomie on the front pastedown of both volumes.

View this title in William & Mary's online catalog.

References

  1. David Parker, "Sovereignty, Absolutism and the Function of the Law in Seventeenth-Century France," Past & Present, 122, (Feb. 1989), 44.
  2. James Gordley, "The State's Private Law and Legal Academia," The American Journal of Comparative Law, 56, no. 3 (2008), 645.
  3. Peter Stein, "The Attraction of Civil Law in Post-Revolutionary America," Virginia Law Review, 52, no. 3 (1966), 406-7.
  4. William F. Church, "The Decline of the French Jurists as Political Theorists, 1660-1789," French Historical Studies, 5, no. 1 (1967), 16.
  5. Gerald A. Greenberger, "Lawyers Confront Centralized Government: Political Thought of Lawyers during the Reign of Louis XIV," The American Journal of Legal History, 23, no. 2 (1979), 174.
  6. Stein, “The Attraction of Civil Law in Post-Revolutionary America,” 406-7.
  7. George Wythe, "Love against Donelson and Hodgson," (Richmond: s.n., 1801), 16.
  8. Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file. Earlier edition available at: https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433
  9. E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson’’, 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 2:405 [no.2212].