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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''A New Law-Dictionary: Containing, the Interpretation and Definition of Words and Terms Used in the Law, and also the Whole Law, and the Practice Thereof, under All the Heads and Titles of the Same''}}
===by Giles Jacob===
{{BookPageInfoBox
|imagename=JacobsLawDictionary1729.jpg
|link=https://catalog.libraries.wm.edu:443/01COWM_WM:01COWM_WM_ALMA:01COWM_WM_ALMA21553504130003196
|shorttitle=A New Law-Dictionary
|author=Giles Jacob
|edition=First
|lang=English
|publoc=[London] In the Savoy
|publisher=Printed by E. and R. Nutt, and R. Gosling, (assigns of E. Sayer, Esq.) for J. and J. Knapton et al.
|year=1729
|pages=[4], 4, [764] 
|desc=Folio (34 cm.)
|shelf=K-5
}}''A New Law Dictionary'' is the most famous work of [[wikipedia:Giles Jacob|Giles Jacob]] (1686 &ndash; 1744), a British legal writer and literary critic. A prominent compiler of law in the early eighteenth century, Jacob published several influential texts on local courts and officers; conveyances; and constitutional, military, commercial and criminal law; and political and poetical work.<ref>Julia Rudolph, "That 'Blunderbuss' of Law: Giles Jacob, Abridgment, and Print Culture," ''Studies in Eighteenth Century Culture'' 37 (2008): 197-215. [http://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/studies_in_eighteenth_century_culture/v037/37.rudolph.pdf Abstract] accessed October 10, 2013, on Project Muse.</ref> Jacob was heavily influenced by philosophers [[wikipedia:John Locke|John Locke]] and [[wikipedia:Thomas Hobbes|Thomas Hobbes]], both of whom believed that "a general agreement on the definition of words was necessary" to eliminate confusion about the meaning of law and the legal rights of people.<ref>''Law Dictionary Collection'', s.v. "[http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/exhibits/dictionaries/common_law/jacob.html Giles Jacob: 1686-1744]," The University of Texas School of Law, accessed October 10, 2013.</ref>

Published in 1729 by E. and R. Nutt and R. Gosling, ''A New Law Dictionary'' has elements of both a dictionary and an abridgment of law.<ref>Ibid.</ref> In addition to a compilation of legal definitions and a list of Anglo-Saxon and French vocabulary, the treatise includes writs, judicial opinions, legal forms, and other materials that Giles believed would help others better understand the meaning of the law in clear, simple terms.<ref>Ibid.</ref> Giles’ dictionary went through ten editions before 1800.<ref>Ibid.</ref> In both Britain and colonial America, Giles’ ''Law Dictionary'' was one of the most widely read English legal dictionaries and often found in the libraries of distinguished colonial lawyers and jurists.<ref>Rudolph, “That ‘Blunderbuss’ of Law."</ref>  

==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Listed in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as "Jacob's L. D. fol." and given by [[Thomas Jefferson]] to [[Dabney Carr]].  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 the first edition (1729) while [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 September 16, 2013.</ref> on LibraryThing indicates "Precise edition unknown. Numerous folio editions were published, beginning in 1729." The Wolf Law Library followed Brown's suggestion and purchased a copy of the first edition.

==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
Bound in recent period-style quarter calf over marble boards, raised bands, with blind ornaments and lettering piece on the spine. The title page includes signatures of previous owners. Purchased from The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. 

Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/sets/72157658362005619 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://catalog.libraries.wm.edu:443/01COWM_WM:01COWM_WM_ALMA:01COWM_WM_ALMA21553504130003196 William & Mary's online catalog.]

===Full text===
*[http://lawlibrary.wm.edu/wythepedia/library/JacobNewLaw-Dictionary1729.pdf ''A New Law-Dictionary''] (99MB PDF)

==See also==
*[[George Wythe Room]]
*[[Jefferson Inventory]]
*''[[Treatise of Laws|A Treatise of Laws or, A General Introduction to the Common, Civil, and Canon Law]]''
*[[Wythe's Library]]

==References==
<references/>

==External Links==
Read this book in [http://books.google.com/books?id=2sZLAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover Google Books].

__NOTOC__
[[Category:Dabney Carr's Books]]
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
[[Category:Legal Dictionaries]]
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]