A New Abridgment of the Law
by Matthew Bacon
Similar to a legal encyclopedia, A New Abridgment contains in-depth examinations of entire areas of the law and references to statutes, decided cases, and authoritative treatises.
In 1736 there appeared... the first two volumes of A New Abridgment of the Law, the third volume following in 1740. Only the first two thirds of the fourth volume were completed by Bacon before his death. The remainder of that volume, which appeared in 1759, and just over half of the fifth and final volume, which appeared in 1766, were written by Joseph Sayer, serjeant-at-law. The remaining portion of the fifth volume was completed by Owen Ruffhead. The work reached a seventh English edition, in eight volumes, in 1832. It was extremely popular in the United States of America, and was several times edited there by Bird Wilson, and by John Bouvier. Unlike earlier abridgements, Bacon's work did not consist of notes of cases and statutes roughly put together under alphabetical heads, but rather foreshadowed modern legal encyclopaedias in containing a collection of scientific treatises on all branches of the law. Bacon's abridgement, which Charles Viner refused to regard as an abridgement at all, but just ‘called so in order to make it more saleable’, was in this way superior to Viner's, and attained a popularity which Viner's work was unable to match. Much, though not all, of Bacon's material was derived from the work of Jeffrey Gilbert, chief baron of the exchequer in Ireland from 1715 to 1722, and subsequently chief baron of the exchequer in England. There is a frequent resemblance between the text of Bacon's abridgement and Gilbert's published works Devises (1730), Ejectments (1734), and Rents (1758), though there is no such resemblance with certain other published works by Gilbert, and it is possible that Bacon obtained Gilbert's material not from his treatises but from a manuscript abridgement compiled by Gilbert. Bacon may also have used the works of Matthew Hale, William Hawkins, and Knightley D'Anvers. [1]
Bibliographic Information
Author: Matthew Bacon
Title: A New Abridgment of the Law.
Published: London: Printed by His Majesty's Law-Printers for J. Worrall and Co., 1768.
Edition: Third edition (volumes one-three); second edition (volume four); first edition (volume five)
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as Bacon's abridged 4.v. in 7. fol. and given by Thomas Jefferson to Dabney Carr. While the Library of Congress did not purchase Wythe's copy from Jefferson, his set is now owned by the Library. Volumes 1 through 3 are inscribed "Given by Thos. Jefferson to D. Carr, 1806." Volume 2 of this set includes George Wythe's bookplate and volume 4 has "George Wythe" in manuscript on one of the preliminary pages. Wythe's set is the first edition (volumes 1-2: 1736; volume 3: 1740; volume 4: 1759; volume 5: 1766) and therefore differs from the one held by the Wolf Law Library. The Brown Bibliography[2] and George Wythe's Library[3] on LibraryThing include the first edition of this title based on knowledge of Wythe's copy at the Library of Congress. Dean's Memo[4] lists the third edition in the section of titles Wythe assigned his law students and clerks.
Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy
Bound in contemporary calf with contrasting spine labels. Each volume is signed "John Hebb 1768" on the front free endpaper. Purchased from Nostre Livers.
View this book in William & Mary's online catalog.
References
- ↑ N. G. Jones, "Bacon, Mathew (b. c.1700, d. in or before 1757)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, accessed 27 June 2013.'
- ↑ 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 April 21, 2013, http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe
- ↑ Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean, Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 9 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).
