Historical Law-Tracts
by Lord Henry Home Kames
| Historical Law Tracts | |
 Title page from Historical Law Tracts, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary. | |
| Author | Henry Home, Lord Kames |
| Published | Edinburgh and London:: Printed by A. Kincaid, His Majesty's Printer, for A. Millar, London, and A. Kincaid and J. Bell, in Edinburgh |
| Date | {{{year}}} |
| Edition | 2nd |
| Language | English |
| Pages | 463 |
Henry Homes, Lord Kames, (1696-1782), a leader of the Scottish Enlightenment,[1] began his career as an advocate and later became a notable judge and writer. His writings help shape the Scottish legal system and demonstrate his philosophical approach to the law. In 1751, he published Essays on the Principles of Morality and Natural Religion which caused a number of members of the Scottish church to hope he would be excommunicated. Political smears and Jacobite claims delayed but did not prevent Home from ascending to the bench. He continued writing during this time, publishing Historical Law Tracts in 1758 and "his principal work in the eyes of Scottish legal historians", Principles of Equity, in 1760.[2] Home was appointed commissioner of justiciary in 1763. His judicial and writing careers continued until 1782, the year of his death.[3]
The Historical Law Tracts of Lord Kames are conducted upon a very judicious system of investigating the natural principles of some of the most important objects of judicial science, and tracing the application of them in the Laws of Rome, of Scotland, and of England; but a comparison between the Laws of Scotland and England, conducted, I think with great fairness, is apparently the leading object of the undertaking.[4]
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
Recently rebound in cloth over 1/2 leather, with gold tooled red label.
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External Links
References
- ↑ Alexander Brodie, "Scottish Philosophy in the 18th Century" in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, accessed October 19, 2013, http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scottish-18th/#MajFig.
- ↑ Alastair J. Durie and Stuart Handley, "Home, Henry, Lord Kames (1696–1782)" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed October 9, 2013.
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ William David Evans, "Introduction" in M. Pothier, A Treatise on the Law of Obligations, or Contracts, vol. 1 (London: Printed by A. Strahan, 1806), 44.
