The History of the Common Law of England
The History of the Common Law of England Divided into Twelve Chapters
by Matthew Hale
Sir Matthew Hale (1609- 1676) attended Lincoln’s Inn to study the law in the footsteps of his father, who had died when Hale was a very young age.[1] While studying at Lincoln’s Inn, Hale became very close with the attorney general, William Noy (d. 1634).[2] Noy is believed to have helped shape Hale’s love for medieval transcripts.[3] This would later lead to Hale’s work on a large amount of legal literature. Hale entered the bar in 1636 after the normal seven years of schooling.[4] In 1671, Sir Matthew Hale became the chief justice of the Court of King’s Bench, a well-deserved role considering the amount of writing he was doing on criminal law as well as the common law.[5]
The History of the Common Law of England was not published until a decade after Hale’s death, but it is thought to have been "quite widely circulated."[6] The book was the first attempt to compile a comprehensive look at the common law and was the standard until the late nineteenth century.[7] The History of the Common Law was considered slightly biased because it only included what Hale thought was formative—the twelfth and thirteenth century work and nothing from the Tudor-Stuart era.[8]
Bibliographic Information
Author: Matthew Hale.
Publication Info: London, In the Savoy: printed by E. and R. Nutt, and R. Gosling, (assigns of Edw. Sayer, Esq); for T. Waller, 1739.
Edition: Third edition, corrected.
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
Re-bound in period-design marbleized paper over boards, beautifully re-backed in leather with leather tips and spine label. Purchased from Museum Books LLC.
View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.
External Links
References
- ↑ A. Cromartie, “Hale, Sir Mathew (b.c 1609 d. in 1676)” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed October 9, 2013.
- ↑ H. Flander, “Sir Matthew Hale,” University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register 56 (1908), 6.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Cromartie, “Hale, Sir Mathew."
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Harold J. Berman, "The Origins of Historical Jurisprudence: Coke, Selden, Hale," Yale Law Journal 103 (1994), 7.
- ↑ Ibid.
