Difference between revisions of "Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England"
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==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library== | ==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library== | ||
− | Listed with the other parts of Coke's ''Institutes'' in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as ''Coke’s Institutes. 3.v. fol.'' This was one of the sets kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]]. He may have sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Three of the [[George Wythe Collection]] sources (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), XLVI.</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 Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, May, 2012) Microsoft Word file.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> and [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 12, 2014.</ref> on LibraryThing) include the second (1648) edition of ''The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England'', based on Millicent Sowerby's entry in ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'',<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'' 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 2:219 [no. 1784].</ref> Jefferson's copy still exists and contains manuscript notes not in his hand, but | + | Listed with the other parts of Coke's ''Institutes'' in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as ''Coke’s Institutes. 3.v. fol.'' This was one of the sets kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]]. He may have sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Three of the [[George Wythe Collection]] sources (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), XLVI.</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> and [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 12, 2014.</ref> on LibraryThing) include the second (1648) edition of ''The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England'', based on Millicent Sowerby's entry in ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'',<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'' 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 2:219 [no. 1784].</ref> Jefferson's copy still exists with the third and fourth parts bound together. It contains manuscript notes not in his hand, but those notes have not been linked to Wythe nor are there any other indications that the volume once belonged to Wythe. [[Dean Bibliography|Dean's Memo]]<ref>[[Dean Bibliography|Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean]], Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 10 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).</ref> lists the first (1644) edition of ''The Fourth Institute'' based on notes in Jefferson's commonplace book.<ref>''The Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson: A Repertory of His Ideas on Government'', ed. Gilbert Chinard (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1926), 14.</ref> The Wolf Law Library followed Dean's recommendation and purchased a copy of the first edition. |
[[File:CokeFourthInstitute1644Inscription.jpg|left|thumb|300px|<center>Inscription, front pastedown.</center>]] | [[File:CokeFourthInstitute1644Inscription.jpg|left|thumb|300px|<center>Inscription, front pastedown.</center>]] | ||
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==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy== | ==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy== | ||
Bound in contemporary calf with blind rules to boards and rebacked in period-style. Includes the inscription "Downing College Library" on the front pastedown. Purchased from the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. | Bound in contemporary calf with blind rules to boards and rebacked in period-style. Includes the inscription "Downing College Library" on the front pastedown. Purchased from the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. |
Revision as of 11:23, 12 March 2014
The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England: Concerning the Jurisdiction of Courts
by Sir Edward Coke
The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England | |
Title page from The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary. | |
Author | Sir Edward Coke |
Published | London: Printed by M. Flesher, for W. Lee, and D. Pakeman |
Date | 1644 |
Language | English with some Latin and Law French |
Pages | [16], 364, [38] |
Desc. | Folio (29 cm.) |
The Institutes found their way over to the colonies, and began to influence the minds of men like John Jay, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.[7] The work by the “founding father of common law in England’s American colonies” paved the way law was taught to many of the people who founded the new nation.[8] The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England covers jurisdiction and offers instruction on which courts could hear certain cases. "Beginning with the High Court of Parliament, [Coke] travels through the whole mass of councils and courts, central and local, which administered justice in the king's name."[9] Throughout the text, Coke emphasizes the primacy of the common law courts and reiterates views he had previously expressed on the bench.[10]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed with the other parts of Coke's Institutes in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as Coke’s Institutes. 3.v. fol. This was one of the sets kept by Thomas Jefferson. He may have sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Three of the George Wythe Collection sources (Goodwin's pamphlet[11], the Brown Bibliography[12] and George Wythe's Library[13] on LibraryThing) include the second (1648) edition of The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England, based on Millicent Sowerby's entry in Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson,[14] Jefferson's copy still exists with the third and fourth parts bound together. It contains manuscript notes not in his hand, but those notes have not been linked to Wythe nor are there any other indications that the volume once belonged to Wythe. Dean's Memo[15] lists the first (1644) edition of The Fourth Institute based on notes in Jefferson's commonplace book.[16] The Wolf Law Library followed Dean's recommendation and purchased a copy of the first edition.
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
Bound in contemporary calf with blind rules to boards and rebacked in period-style. Includes the inscription "Downing College Library" on the front pastedown. Purchased from the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.
View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.
References
- ↑ Allen D. Boyer, "Coke, Sir Edward (1552–1634)" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed Oct. 3, 2013.
- ↑ Allen D. Boyer, Sir Edward Coke and the Elizabethan Age (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003), 216.
- ↑ Boyer, "Coke, Sir Edward."
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Bill of Rights Institute website, s.v. "Petition of Right (1628)", accessed Oct. 3, 2013 http://billofrightsinstitute.org/resources/educator-resources/americapedia/americapedia-documents/petition-of-right/.
- ↑ Boyer, "Coke, Sir Edward."
- ↑ Catherine Drinker Bowen, The Lion and The Throne: the life and times of Sir Edward Coke (1552-1634)(Boston: Little, Brown, 1957), 514.
- ↑ Boyer, Allen D. Law, Liberty, and Parliament : Selected Essays on the Writings of Sir Edward Coke. Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2004, 24.
- ↑ W. S. Holdsworth, A History of English Law (London: Methuen & Co., Sweet and Maxwell, 1924), 5:470.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Mary R. M. Goodwin, The George Wythe House: Its Furniture and Furnishings (Williamsburg, Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, 1958), XLVI.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ LibraryThing, s. v. "Member: George Wythe", accessed on March 12, 2014.
- ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson 2nd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1983), 2:219 [no. 1784].
- ↑ Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean, Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 10 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).
- ↑ The Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson: A Repertory of His Ideas on Government, ed. Gilbert Chinard (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1926), 14.