Difference between revisions of "Commentaries, or Reports of Edmund Plowden"

Revision as of 13:36, 18 March 2015

by Edmund Plowden

Plowden's Reports
Title not held by The Wolf Law Library at the College of William & Mary.
Author	Edmund Plowden
Editor	{{{editor}}}
Translator	{{{trans}}}
Published	London, In the Savoy: Printed by Catharine Lintot, and Samuel Richardson, for the translator
Date	1761
Edition	First in English
Language	English
Volumes	3 parts in 1 volume set
Pages
Desc.	Folio

Edmund Plowden (1518 - 1585) was born in Shropshire as the eldest son to a local landowner.^[1] He was a member of Middle Temple and began recording cases that he heard in court around 1550.^[2] Plowden's devotion to Catholicism, while politically and socially unpopular at varying points in his life, did little to derail his successful career.^[3] He held a variety of posts and positions including an appointment to the council in the marches of Wales, made a member of the commision of the peace and served as a member of parliament.^[4] Additionally, he was raised to the bench at Middle Temple in 1557.^[5]

Despite his professional obligations, Plowden authored several books including his seminal work, Les commentaries, ou, Les reportes … de divers cases … en les temps des raignes le Roy Ed. le size, le Roigne Mary, le Roy & Roigne Philip & Mary, & le Roigne Elizabeth, in 1571 and subsequently revised it on a number of occasions.^[6] Edmund Plowden died on February 6, 1585 and is buried in the Middle Temple Church.^[7]

Commentaries, or Reports of Edmund Plowden^[8] This version of Plowden's orginal work was believed to be both edited and translated by Mr. Broomly for the 1760 English tranlation of the unabridged version.^[9]

This book was a collection of the case reports he had written and differed in significant ways from the traditional year-books.^[10] Plowden's work deviated from the standard reporters of the Year Books in two ways.^[11] First, he was the first eminent lawyer to publish a case book in his lifetime and secondly, his case notes focused on the points of law and the judges rulings instead of the pleading points that were so heavily prominent in the Year Books.^[12] The fundamental principals behind his work are best summed up by a phrase in the Preface:

"..I resolved upon two things, which I then purposed earnestly to pursue. The first was, to be present at, and to give diligent attention to, the debates and questions in law, and particularly to the arguments of those who were men of the greatest note and reputation for learning. The second was, to commit to writing, what I had heard, and the judgment thereupon, which seemed to me to be much better than to rely upon treacherous memory which often deceives it's master."^[13]

The 1761 English translated version differed in several ways from Plowden's second edition of Les commentaries, ou, Les reportes … de divers cases … en les temps des raignes le Roy Ed. le size, le Roigne Mary, le Roy & Roigne Philip & Mary, & le Roigne Elizabeth published 1578.^[14] In addition to William Fleetwood's contribution of an analytical index, the 1761 addition contained Plowden's Queries, additional tables and notes, as well as references to to newer legal sources not availible at the time of the 1578 edition.^[15]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Wythe's copy owned by the Library of Congress.

References

1. ↑ Christopher W. Brooks, “Plowden, Edmund (c.1518–1585),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press accessed February 4, 2014.
2. ↑ Ibid.
3. ↑ Ibid.
4. ↑ Ibid.
5. ↑ Ibid.
6. ↑ Ibid.
7. ↑ Ibid.
8. ↑ Plowden, Edmund. The commentaries, or reports of Edmund Plowden, Of the Middle-Temple, Esq; An Apprentice of the Common Law, containing divers cases upon matters of law, argued and adjudged in the several Reigns of King Edward VI. Queen Mary, King and Queen Philip and Mary, and Queen Elizabeth. Originally written in French, And now faithfully translated into English, and considerably improved by many marginal Notes and References to all the Books of the Common Law, both ancient and modern. To which are added, the Quæries of Mr. Plowden, Now first rendered into English at large, with References, and many useful Observations. In two parts. With two new tables, more compleat than any yet published, the one, of the names of the cases, the other of the principal matters. London: 1761, in Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Gale, College of William & Mary, accessed February 14, 2014.
9. ↑ J.G. Marvin, Legal Bibliography, or A Thesaurus of American, English, Irish, and Scotch Law Books. Philadelphia: T & J.W. Johnson, 1847, 574.
10. ↑ Brooks, "Plowden, Edmund."
11. ↑ Brooks, "Plowden, Edmund;" Allen D. Boyer, Sir Edward Coke and the Elizabethan Age. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2003, 32-33.
12. ↑ Ibid.
13. ↑ Edmund Plowden, Commentaries.
14. ↑ Ibid.
15. ↑ Brooks, "Plowden, Edmund;" Edmund Plowden, Commentaries; Christopher W. Brooks, "Fleetwood, William (c.1525-1594)," in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press.