Difference between revisions of "Reports of Cases Decreed in the High Court of Chancery"

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===by Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham===
 
===by Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham===
 
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<blockquote>Apart from some scattered contemporary reports [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heneage_Finch,_1st_Earl_of_Nottingham Finch]'s work was not published until a collection entitled Reports of cases decreed in the high court of chancery during the time Sir Heneage Finch, afterwards earl of Nottingham, was lord chancellor was made by William Nelson in 1725. But these cases were drawn from the books of decretal orders and thus do not supply the judicial reasons for the decisions. But Lord Nottingham had fortunately penned his own private collection of his cases which circulated in manuscript in the eighteenth century and some few selected cases were published in Swanston's Chancery Reports (1821–7). The full publication of Nottingham's reports was not achieved until they were edited and published by the Selden Society in two volumes (73, 79) in 1957 and 1961, and other treatises by him on chancery law and practice were during this period edited and printed after long obscurity. Nevertheless his status as the ‘Father of Modern Equity’ was recognized in the legal profession long before modern academic retrieval of the texts. Thus Blackstone wrote that he ‘was endued with a pervading genius, that enabled him to discover and pursue the true spirit of justice’ and that he was enabled ‘in the course of nine years to build a system of jurisprudence upon wide and rational foundations’ (Blackstone, 3.55).<ref> D. E. C. Yale, ‘Finch, Heneage, first earl of Nottingham (1621–1682)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9433, accessed 30 May 2013]</ref></blockquote>
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[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heneage_Finch,_1st_Earl_of_Nottingham Heneage Finch], first Earl of Nottingham, (1621–1682) was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1638 and called to the bar in 1645.<ref> D. E. C. Yale, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/9433 "Finch, Heneage, first earl of Nottingham (1621–1682)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 30 May 2013. (Subscription required for access.) Subsequent biographical information derives from this article unless otherwise noted.</ref> After spending time as solicitor-general and attorney-general, Finch was appointed lord chancellor in 1675. William Nelson compiled and edited ''Reports of Cases Decreed in the High Court of Chancery, During the Time Sir Heneage Finch'' from cases decided by Finch from 1673 to 1681. Nelson's compilation has been heavily criticized. One biographer of Nottingham wrote that the reports "are miserably executed, containing a defective narrative of the facts,&mdash;hardly any statement of the points made by counsel or the authorities relied on,&mdash;and, without the reasons of the Judge, giving only an abstract of the Decree ..."<ref>John Campbell, Baron Campbell, ''Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of England: from the Earliest Times till the Reign of Queen Victoria'', 7th ed. (New York : Cockcroft & Company, 1878), 4:225.</ref> Another wrote "the highest authorities" all "speak of the book disparagingly."<ref>John William Wallace, ''The Reporters, Arranged and Characterized with Incidental Remarks'', 4th ed., rev. and enl. (Boston: Soule and Bugbee, 1882), 488.</ref> The quality of the reports is unfortunate as Holdsworth has described Lord Nottingham's "analyses of complicated facts are masterly, both for their minuteness, and for the clearness with which the results of the analysis are stated. He can enunciate a principle, and reason from it closely and logically ..."<ref>W. S. Holdsworth, ''A History of English Law'' (London: Methuen & Co., Sweet and Maxwell, 1924), 6:543.</ref> Even Blackstone wrote that Nottingham "was a person of the greatest abilities and most uncorrupted integrity; a thorough master and zealous defender of the laws and constitution of his country; and endued with a pervading genius, that enabled him to discover and pursue the true spirit of justice ..."<ref>William Blackstone, ''Commentaries on the Laws of England'' (Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, 1768), 3:55.</ref>  
  
 
==Bibliographic Information==
 
==Bibliographic Information==
'''Author:''' Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham, (1621-1682)
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'''Author:''' Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham.
  
'''Title:''' Reports of Cases Decreed in the High Court of Chancery, During the Time Sir Heneage Finch, afterwards Earl of Nottingham, was Lord Chancellor, in Many of Which Decrees He was Assisted by Some of the Judges of the Common Law
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'''Title:''' ''Reports of Cases Decreed in the High Court of Chancery, During the Time Sir Heneage Finch, afterwards Earl of Nottingham, was Lord Chancellor, in Many of Which Decrees He was Assisted by Some of the Judges of the Common Law''.
  
'''Publication Info:''' London, In the Savoy: Printed for E. and R. Nutt, and R. Gosling (assigns of E. Sayer) for R. Gosling, 1725.  
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'''Publication Info:''' In the Savoy: Printed for E. and R. Nutt, and R. Gosling (assigns of E. Sayer) for R. Gosling, 1725.  
  
'''Edition:'''
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'''Edition:''' First edition; 480 pages.
  
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==

Revision as of 14:22, 9 September 2013

by Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham

Heneage Finch, first Earl of Nottingham, (1621–1682) was admitted to the Inner Temple in 1638 and called to the bar in 1645.[1] After spending time as solicitor-general and attorney-general, Finch was appointed lord chancellor in 1675. William Nelson compiled and edited Reports of Cases Decreed in the High Court of Chancery, During the Time Sir Heneage Finch from cases decided by Finch from 1673 to 1681. Nelson's compilation has been heavily criticized. One biographer of Nottingham wrote that the reports "are miserably executed, containing a defective narrative of the facts,—hardly any statement of the points made by counsel or the authorities relied on,—and, without the reasons of the Judge, giving only an abstract of the Decree ..."[2] Another wrote "the highest authorities" all "speak of the book disparagingly."[3] The quality of the reports is unfortunate as Holdsworth has described Lord Nottingham's "analyses of complicated facts are masterly, both for their minuteness, and for the clearness with which the results of the analysis are stated. He can enunciate a principle, and reason from it closely and logically ..."[4] Even Blackstone wrote that Nottingham "was a person of the greatest abilities and most uncorrupted integrity; a thorough master and zealous defender of the laws and constitution of his country; and endued with a pervading genius, that enabled him to discover and pursue the true spirit of justice ..."[5]

Bibliographic Information

Author: Heneage Finch, Earl of Nottingham.

Title: Reports of Cases Decreed in the High Court of Chancery, During the Time Sir Heneage Finch, afterwards Earl of Nottingham, was Lord Chancellor, in Many of Which Decrees He was Assisted by Some of the Judges of the Common Law.

Publication Info: In the Savoy: Printed for E. and R. Nutt, and R. Gosling (assigns of E. Sayer) for R. Gosling, 1725.

Edition: First edition; 480 pages.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in sheep-backed boards. Purchased from Meyer Boswell Books, Inc.

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

External Links

Google Books

References

  1. D. E. C. Yale, "Finch, Heneage, first earl of Nottingham (1621–1682)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 30 May 2013. (Subscription required for access.) Subsequent biographical information derives from this article unless otherwise noted.
  2. John Campbell, Baron Campbell, Lives of the Lord Chancellors and Keepers of the Great Seal of England: from the Earliest Times till the Reign of Queen Victoria, 7th ed. (New York : Cockcroft & Company, 1878), 4:225.
  3. John William Wallace, The Reporters, Arranged and Characterized with Incidental Remarks, 4th ed., rev. and enl. (Boston: Soule and Bugbee, 1882), 488.
  4. W. S. Holdsworth, A History of English Law (London: Methuen & Co., Sweet and Maxwell, 1924), 6:543.
  5. William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England (Oxford: Printed at the Clarendon Press, 1768), 3:55.