Difference between revisions of "Tractatus de Legibus et Consuetudinibus Regni Angliae"

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(Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy)
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|year=1554?
 
|year=1554?
 
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[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranulf_de_Glanvill Ranulf de Glanville] (1120s?–1190) was born in Suffolk Stratford, the son of Sir Hervey de Glanville, Chamberlain to King Stephen, and thus, Ranulf was a member of a very wealthy family. After serving as sheriff of Yorkshire from 1163 to 1170, he was appointed keeper of the honour of Richmond in 1171 and sheriff of Lancashire in 1174.<ref>John Hudson, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10795 "Glanville, Ranulf de (1120s?–1190)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed November 21, 2013.</ref> Other offices followed including justiciar of England in 1180. With this position, Glanville effectively became Henry II's chief minister during the later part of his reign. Glanville died at Acre in 1190 while on crusade with King Richard.<br />
 
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranulf_de_Glanvill Ranulf de Glanville] (1120s?–1190) was born in Suffolk Stratford, the son of Sir Hervey de Glanville, Chamberlain to King Stephen, and thus, Ranulf was a member of a very wealthy family. After serving as sheriff of Yorkshire from 1163 to 1170, he was appointed keeper of the honour of Richmond in 1171 and sheriff of Lancashire in 1174.<ref>John Hudson, [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/10795 "Glanville, Ranulf de (1120s?–1190)"], ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed November 21, 2013.</ref> Other offices followed including justiciar of England in 1180. With this position, Glanville effectively became Henry II's chief minister during the later part of his reign. Glanville died at Acre in 1190 while on crusade with King Richard.<br />
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==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
 
==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
 +
Wythe ordered "Glanville" from John Norton & Sons in a letter dated May 29, 1772. Records indicate the order was fulfilled.<ref>Frances Norton Mason, ed., ''John Norton & Sons, Merchants of London and Virginia: Being the Papers from their Counting House for the Years 1750 to 1795'' (Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Press, 1937), 242-243. The letter is endorsed "Virga. 29 May 1772 / George Wythe / Recd. 21 September / Goods Entr. pa. 163/ Ans. the March 1773."</ref> "Glanvil. 12mo." is also listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]]. This was one of the titles kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]] and may have been sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Jefferson did sell copies of both the first (1554) and second (1673) editions of ''Tractatus de Legibus et Consuetudinibus Regni Anglie'' to the Library of Congress and both volumes still exist today. However, neither has definitive markings linking it to Wythe.<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'', 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 2:211-212 [no.1769-1770].</ref> The [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown 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> includes both editions at the Library of Congress. [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s. v. [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe "Member: George Wythe"] accessed on March 5, 2014.</ref> on LibraryThing and Goodwin's pamphlet<ref>Mary R. M. Goodwin, [http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary/View/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports\RR0216.xml ''The George Wythe House: Its Furniture and Furnishings''] (Williamsburg, Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, 1958), XLVIII.</ref> both list the second (1673) edition. Because we do not know which edition Wythe owned, and because the Wolf Law Library prefers first editions when the edition is unknown, the library bought a copy of the first edition.
 
[[File:GlanvilleTractatus1554ManuscriptNotes.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Manuscript notes from the Wolf Law Library's copy of ''Tractatus''.]]
 
[[File:GlanvilleTractatus1554ManuscriptNotes.jpg|left|thumb|200px|Manuscript notes from the Wolf Law Library's copy of ''Tractatus''.]]
  
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
<br />
+
Contemporary binding with blind tooling; fragment of early illuminated vellum manuscript used as spine lining (1/2 inch tabs visible); marginalia and annotations in brown ink throughout; "Ex lib: Guli: Acton 1724" at head of title page.<br />
 
<br />
 
<br />
 
View this book in [https://catalog.swem.wm.edu/law/Record/557132 William & Mary's online catalog.]
 
View this book in [https://catalog.swem.wm.edu/law/Record/557132 William & Mary's online catalog.]
===References===
+
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
 
[[Category:English Law]]
 
[[Category:English Law]]
 
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
 
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
 +
[[Category:Possible Surviving Wythe Volumes]]
 
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]
 
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]

Revision as of 20:09, 9 March 2014

Tractatus de Legibus et Consuetudinibus Regni Angliae: Tempore Regis Henrici Secundi Compositus, Iusticie Gubernacula Tenente Illustri Viro Ranulpho de Glanvilla Iuris Regni & Antiquarum Consuetudinu[M] eo Tempore Peritissimo. et Illas Solu[M] Leges Continet & Consuetudines Secundum Quas Placitatur In Curia Regis Ad Scaccarium & Coram Iusticiis Ubicunque Fuerint. Huic Adiectae Sunt A Quodam Legum Studioso Adnotationes Aliquot Marginales Non Inutiles

by Ranulf de Glanville

Tractatus
GlanvilleTractatus1554TitlePage.jpg

Title page from Tractatus, volume one, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.

Author Ranulf de Glanville
Editor {{{editor}}}
Translator {{{trans}}}
Published London: in aedibus Richardi Totteli. Cum privilegio ad imprimendum solum
Date 1554?
Edition First printed
Language Latin
Volumes {{{set}}} volume set
Pages 40, 116 leaves
Desc.
Location [[Shelf {{{shelf}}}]]
  [[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]


Ranulf de Glanville (1120s?–1190) was born in Suffolk Stratford, the son of Sir Hervey de Glanville, Chamberlain to King Stephen, and thus, Ranulf was a member of a very wealthy family. After serving as sheriff of Yorkshire from 1163 to 1170, he was appointed keeper of the honour of Richmond in 1171 and sheriff of Lancashire in 1174.[1] Other offices followed including justiciar of England in 1180. With this position, Glanville effectively became Henry II's chief minister during the later part of his reign. Glanville died at Acre in 1190 while on crusade with King Richard.

According to tradition, Glanville wrote Tractatus de Legibus et Consuetudinibus Regni Angliae (Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Kingdom of England), the “earliest treatise on the common law,” [2] "a manual concerning royal judicial procedures."[3] The treatise was composed sometime after 1187 and many writers suggest that the attribution to Glanville is incorrect, suggesting perhaps E. de Narbrough, Henry II,[4] or Hubert Walter.[5] Regardless of the authorship, the volume "will not cease to be regarded as a venerable historical monument, the first collected rays of the old Common Law."[6]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Wythe ordered "Glanville" from John Norton & Sons in a letter dated May 29, 1772. Records indicate the order was fulfilled.[7] "Glanvil. 12mo." is also listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library. This was one of the titles kept by Thomas Jefferson and may have been sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Jefferson did sell copies of both the first (1554) and second (1673) editions of Tractatus de Legibus et Consuetudinibus Regni Anglie to the Library of Congress and both volumes still exist today. However, neither has definitive markings linking it to Wythe.[8] The Brown Bibliography[9] includes both editions at the Library of Congress. George Wythe's Library[10] on LibraryThing and Goodwin's pamphlet[11] both list the second (1673) edition. Because we do not know which edition Wythe owned, and because the Wolf Law Library prefers first editions when the edition is unknown, the library bought a copy of the first edition.

Manuscript notes from the Wolf Law Library's copy of Tractatus.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Contemporary binding with blind tooling; fragment of early illuminated vellum manuscript used as spine lining (1/2 inch tabs visible); marginalia and annotations in brown ink throughout; "Ex lib: Guli: Acton 1724" at head of title page.

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

References

  1. John Hudson, "Glanville, Ranulf de (1120s?–1190)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed November 21, 2013.
  2. William Holdsworth, A History of English Law (London: Methuen & Co., Sweet and Maxwell, 1936), 2: 189.
  3. Hudson, "Glanville, Ranulf de."
  4. J. G. Marvin, Legal Bibliography or a Thesaurus of American, English, Irish, and Scotch Law Books (Philadelphia: T. & J. W. Johnson, Law Booksellers, 1847), 336.
  5. Holdsworth, A History of English Law, 189.
  6. Marvin, Legal Bibliography, 337.
  7. Frances Norton Mason, ed., John Norton & Sons, Merchants of London and Virginia: Being the Papers from their Counting House for the Years 1750 to 1795 (Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Press, 1937), 242-243. The letter is endorsed "Virga. 29 May 1772 / George Wythe / Recd. 21 September / Goods Entr. pa. 163/ Ans. the March 1773."
  8. E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 2:211-212 [no.1769-1770].
  9. 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
  10. LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe" accessed on March 5, 2014.
  11. Mary R. M. Goodwin, The George Wythe House: Its Furniture and Furnishings (Williamsburg, Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, 1958), XLVIII.