The Reports of Sir Bartholomew Shower
by Sir Bartholomew Shower
| The Reports of Sir Bartholomew Shower | |
 Title page from The Reports of Sir Bartholomew Shower, volume one, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary. | |
| Author | Sir Bartholomew Shower |
| Published | London: Printed by the assigns of Richard and Edward Atkins, Esqs; for Danial Borwne and J. Walthoe |
| Date | 1708-20 |
| Edition | First |
| Language | English |
| Volumes | 2 volume set |
| Desc. | 32 cm. Title and imprint vary: v. 2: The second part of the Reports of cases and special arguments, argued and adjudged in the Court of King's bench ... By Sir Bartholomew Shower. In the Savoy: Printed by Eliz. Nutt and R. Gosling ... [for 4 others].
Includes index. |
Sir Bartholomew Shower (1658–1701) was admitted to the Middle Temple in 1676 and called to the bar in 1680. In 1688, he was first named king's counsel, then later the same year, appointed to the bench.[1] In 1698, Shower was chosen as one of Exeter's members for Parliament and he shortly became a dominant tory voice in the Commons. Shower's King's Bench reports derive from his manuscript notes but were published posthumously. "It is probable that these Cases were printed from the 'foul copy' of the Reporter" and were not the finished product Shower meant to publish.[2] As a result, the first two editions of the reports have been widely criticized.[3] However, a third edition published in 1836 and based on a manuscript in the Lansdowne collection has a more favorable reputation and appears to represent the collection Shower originally intended to print.[4]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
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References
- ↑ Robert J. Frankle, "Shower, Sir Bartholomew (1658–1701)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 22 Sept 2013. (Subscription required for access.) Subsequent biographical information also derives from this article unless otherwise noted.
- ↑ J. G. Marvin, Legal Bibliography or a Thesaurus of American, English, Irish, and Scotch Law Books (Philadelphia: T. & J. W. Johnson, Law Booksellers, 1847), 646.
- ↑ Robert J. Frankle, "Shower, Sir Bartholomew."
- ↑ John William Wallace, The Reporters, Arranged and Characterized with Incidental Remarks, 4th ed., rev. and enl. (Boston: Soule and Bugbee, 1882), 392-393.
