Difference between revisions of "Reports de Henry Rolle"

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Les Reports de Henry Rolle, Serjeant del' Ley, de Divers Cases en le Court del' Banke le Roy en le Temps del' Reign de Roy Jacques

by Henry Rolle

Les Reports de Henry Rolle
Title page from Les Reports de Henry Rolle, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.
Author	Henry Rolle
Editor	{{{editor}}}
Translator	{{{trans}}}
Published	London: Printed for A. Roper, F. Titon, J. Starkey, T. Basset
Date	1675-1676
Edition	{{{edition}}}
Language	Law French interspersed with English
Volumes	{{{set}}} volume set
Pages	[4], 279, [1], 285-339, [1], 353-477, [53] p.
Desc.	(31 cm.)
Location	[[Shelf {{{shelf}}}]]
	[[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

Henry Rolle (1589/90-1656), politician, judge, and parliamentarian, was born in Devon, the second son of Robert and Joan Rolle.^[1] At the age of seventeen, he matriculated from Exeter College, Oxford and in 1609 entered the Inner Temple. ^[2] His early studies in the law were “unintermitting and profound” and he gained prominence quickly.^[3] He was elected to the House of Commons for Callington in 1614 and spoke mainly of legal matters in Parliament. ^[4]He was reelected in 1620 and married Margaret Bennett in 1627.^[5]

Rolle supported parliament in the Civil War, contributing money and influence to aid the cause.^[6] In 1645, parliament voted to appoint him a judge of the king’s bench.^[7] Parliament elevated him to chief judge in 1648.^[8] He was reappointed by Cromwell in 1654, however, the following year he received his quietus and returned to his home in Shapwick. He died the following year.^[9]

Scholars regard Rolle’s posthumously published reports as authoritative. ^[10] It seems that much of the regard for Rolle came from his reputation for honesty and accuracy. “Rolle’s reports...are held in great repute, from the character the author obtained in the exercise of his office as a judge during the time of the Commonwealth.” .^[11] However, his manuscripts were never intended to be published and, as a result, contain numerous typographical errors. ^[12] Nevertheless, the works contained scholarly and influential material.^[13] Rolle’s works inspired Viner’s Abridgment. ^[14] Viner, in turn, inspired Sir William Blackstone.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in contemporary calf with blind fillets to boards and rebacked in period style with raised bands, lettering piece and gilt ornaments to spine and renewed endpapers. Purchased from The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

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

References

1. ↑ Stuart Handley, ‘’Rolle, Henry (b. 1589/90, d. 1656)’’, ‘’Oxford Dictionary of National Biography’’ (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed February 18, 2014.
2. ↑ Ibid.
3. ↑ John William Wallace, “The Reporters Arranged and Characterized with Incidental Remarks (Boston: Soule and Bugbee, 1882) 249.
4. ↑ ‘’Rolle, Henry,’’ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
5. ↑ Ibid.
6. ↑ Ibid.
7. ↑ Ibid.
8. ↑ Ibid.
9. ↑ Ibid.
10. ↑ Wallace, ‘’The Reporters Arranged and Characterized with Incidental Remarks’’ 251
11. ↑ J.G. Marvin, “Legal Bibliography (Philadelphia: T & J.W. Johnson Law Booksellers, 1847) 618.
12. ↑ Wallace, ‘’The Reporters Arranged and Characterized with Incidental Remarks’’ 252
13. ↑ Ibid.
14. ↑ Percy H. Winfield, The Chief Sources of English Legal History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1925),244.