Reports of Divers Choice Cases in Law
by Richard Brownlow and John Goldesborough
Richard Brownlow (1553-1638) entered Middle Temple in 1583 and became Chief Protonotary of the Court of Common Pleas in 1590, a position he held until his death. [1] John Goldesborough (1568-1618) joined the Middle Temple in 1613, the year he was he was also appointed Second Prothonotary of Common Pleas.[2]
Historians differ somewhat on the authorship of the two volumes of Brownlow's and Goldesborough's reports. Wallace writes, "the first volume is by Brownlow and Goldesborough; the second by Brownlow alone."[3] One Brownlow biographer disagrees with the joint attribution, stating the "collection of Reports ... had evidently been gathered by Brownlow alone."[4] In contrast, a Goldesborough biographer claims, "Contemporary evidence is unanimous in attributing the first part of these to Goldesburg, and there is no good reason to doubt his authorship."[5] Regardless of the how attribution is distributed among the two, "these reports are not in the first rank of Elizabethan and Jacobean reports, they are workmanlike and succinct, paying particular attention to points of process and procedure."[6]
Bibliographic Information
Author: Richard Brownlow and John Goldesborough.
Title: Reports of Divers Choice Cases in Law, Taken by Those Late and Most Judicious Prothonotaries of the Common Pleas, Richard Brownlow and John Goldesborough.
Publication Info: London : Henry Twyford ... and Samuel Heyrick, 1675
Edition: Volume one, third edition, volume two, second edition; 2 volumes in 1.
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Both Dean's Memo[7] and the Brown Bibliography[8] suggest Wythe owned the 1675 edition of the first and second parts of this title based on notes in John Marshall's commonplace book.[9]
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
Bound in early, perhaps contemporary, calf with blind rules, red morocco label, and gilt lettering to spine. Cover includes tooled design.. Contains brief description noted on edge of text-block. Purchased from Longland Books.
View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.
References
- ↑ Christopher W. Brooks, "Brownlow, Richard (1553–1638)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 18 Sept 2013. (Subscription required for access.)
- ↑ David Ibbetson, "Goldesburg, John (1568–1618)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 18 Sept 2013. (Subscription required for access.)
- ↑ John William Wallace, The Reporters, Arranged and Characterized with Incidental Remarks, 4th ed., rev. and enl. (Boston: Soule and Bugbee, 1882), 164.
- ↑ Brooks, "Brownlow, Richard."
- ↑ Ibbetson, "Goldesburg, John."
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean, Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 9 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).
- ↑ 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
- ↑ The Papers of John Marshall, eds. Herbert A. Johnson, Charles T. Cullen, and Nancy G. Harris (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, in association with the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1974), 1:42.
