The Statutes at Large
The Statutes at Large, in Paragraphs, and Sections or Numbers, from Magna Charta, to the End of the Session of Parliament, March 14. 1704, in the Fourth Year of the Reign of Her Majesty Queen Anne, Carefully Examined by the Rolls of Parliament; with the Titles of Such Statutes as are Expired, Repealed, Altered, or Out of Use
| The Statutes at Large | ||
 at the College of William & Mary. |
||
| Author | Great Britain. | |
| Published | London: Printed by C. Bill | |
| Date | 1706 | |
London, 1706
Joseph Keble (1632-1710), a lawyer and writer, was born in London, and the fourth son of Richard Keble (d. 1683/4), the commissioner of the great seal from 1649 to 1654. Keble was educated at the parish school of St. Andrews and later entered Jesus College, Oxford. He matriculated at All Souls on March 22, 1651 and granted BCL in 1654. Keble was admitted to Grey’s Inn on May 6, 1647 and called to the bar on June 29, 1653.[1] Keble had no legal practice experience, and instead attended the court of the King’s Bench to report on cases; however, Burnett, J. remarked that Keble was “an inaccurate Reporter, though a tolerable historian of the law.”[2] He had a regimented routine that heavily emphasized his studies. Keble’s first publication came from creating a new chart for the statute book which was printed in 1674, and later used again in 1706. He was paid £300 for this work.[3] A contemporary biographer remarked on the books importance, writing, “This book is likely to continue his name to posterity longer than any Marble Grave-stone that can be given him.”[4] Keble also published other works, such as An Explanation of the Laws against Recusants(1681), and An Assistance to Justices of the Peace (1683). He also published Reports of the Queen’s Bench…from the 12th to the 30th year of the reign of Charles II (1685). Keble died on August 28, 1710 at the Gray’s Inn Gate while awaiting a coach. He is buried at Tuddenham, near Ipswich. Keble left much unpublished and left twenty volumes of notes to Gray’s Inn.[5]
Edited by Joseph Keble, The Statues at Large was published in 1706 and included laws from the Magna Carta until March 14, 1704 with alphabetical tables and in three volumes. In the preface, Joseph Keble expressed how the tables were organized by general topics, and then by Kings Time in which they were made, to ease the time spent searching for a specific statute. Every topic, emphasized by Keble, had its place somewhere in the table, even if particular subheadings are left out. Furthermore, these statutes were not abridged, but were published as they were in the rolls. As a help to the reader, Keble also included Pulton’s or Rastal’s Abridgement text in the margins of the work.[6]
References
- ↑ Stuart Handley, "Keble, Joseph (1632-1710)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004-), accessed on February 24, 2015.
- ↑ Richard Whalley Bridgman, "A short View of Legal Bibliography," (London, 1807): 181.
- ↑ Handley, "Keble, Joseph (1632-1710)."
- ↑ "A brief account of Joseph Keble late of Grays-Inn Esq.," (London, 1711): 5.
- ↑ Handley, "Keble, Joseph (1632-1710)."
- ↑ "The Statutes at Large," ed. Joseph Keble (London, 1706).
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