View source for Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England

{{DISPLAYTITLE:''The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England: Concerning the Jurisdiction of Courts''}}
===by Sir Edward Coke===
{{BookPageInfoBox
|imagename=CokeFourthPartOfInstitutes1644TitlePage.jpg
|link=https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991011781379703196
|shorttitle=The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England
|author=[[:Category:Edward Coke|Sir Edward Coke]]
|publoc=[[:Category:London|London]]
|publisher=Printed by M. Flesher, for W. Lee, and D. Pakeman
|year=1644
|lang=[[:Category:English|English]] with some [[:Category:Latin|Latin]] and [[:Category:French|Law French]]
|pages=[16], 364, [38]
|desc=[[:Category:Folios|Folio]] (29 cm.)
|shelf=G-1
}}[[File:CokeFourthInstitute1644Frontispiece.jpg|left|thumb|250px|<center>Frontispiece.</center>]]Born on February 1, 1552 at Mileham, Norfolk, [[wikipedia:Edward Coke|Sir Edward Coke]] (1552 &ndash; 1634) was arguably the most prominent lawyer, legal writer, and politician during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, and a defender of the common law over the use of the Stuarts' royal prerogative.<ref>''Encyclopaedia Britannica Online'', s.v. "[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/124844/Sir-Edward-Coke Sir Edward Coke]," accessed October 3, 2013.</ref>

Coke began his studies in 1567 at [[wikipedia:Trinity College, Cambridge|Trinity College]] during the years of the [[wikipedia:Vestiarian controversy|Vestiarian controversy]] &mdash; puritan protests against the Church of England. In 1572 he moved on to study at the [[wikipedia:Inner Temple|Inner Temple]], where he was admitted to the bar on April 20, 1578. Coke quickly rose to prominence through his successful execution of several noteworthy cases, such as [[wikipedia:Rule in Shelley's Case|''Shelley’s'' case]]. Coke's analytical efforts helped to refine the legal doctrines of English law, and his reputation won him a seat in Parliament. He would later become the Speaker of the House of Commons and eventually attorney general.<ref>Allen D. Boyer, "[http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.wm.edu/view/article/5826 Coke, Sir Edward (1552–1634)]" in ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', accessed September 18, 2013.</ref> In 1606, after being created [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serjeant-at-law serjeant-at-law], Coke was appointed chief justice of the [[wikipedia:Court of Common Pleas (England)|Court of Common Pleas]]. He was transferred, against his will, to chief justice of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Court_of_King%27s_Bench_%28England%29 Court of King's Bench] in 1613; he also became a member of the [[wikipedia:Privy Council of the United Kingdom|privy council]].<ref>Boyer, "Coke, Sir Edward."</ref>

After several political and judicial skirmishes with [[wikipedia:James VI and I|James I]] and [[wikipedia:Francis Bacon|Francis Bacon]], Coke was suspended from the privy council and removed from the bench in 1616.<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica Online'', s.v. "Sir Edward Coke."</ref> Although he never returned to the bench, Coke did return to Parliament and was elected to that body four times from 1620 to 1629. During this time he took a lead in creating and composing the [[wikipedia:Petition of Right|Petition of Right]]. "This document cited the Magna Carta and reminded Charles I that the law gave Englishmen their rights, not the king ... Coke’s petition focused on ... due process, protection from unjust seizure of property or imprisonment, the right to trial by jury of fellow Englishmen, and protection from unjust punishments or excessive fines."<ref>''Bill of Rights Institute'' website, s.v. "[http://29866.bbnc.bbcust.com/page.aspx?pid=920 Petition of Right (1628)]," accessed October 3, 2013.</ref> After this triumph, Coke spent his remaining years at his home, Stoke Poges, working on ''The Institutes of the Laws of England'', another endeavor for which he is rightly famous.<ref>Boyer, "Coke, Sir Edward."</ref>

''The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England'' covers jurisdiction and offers instruction on which courts could hear certain cases. "Beginning with the High Court of Parliament, [Coke] travels through the whole mass of councils and courts, central and local, which administered justice in the king's name."<ref>W. S. Holdsworth, ''A History of English Law'' (London: Methuen & Co., Sweet and Maxwell, 1924), 5:470.</ref> Throughout the text, Coke emphasizes the primacy of the common law courts and reiterates views he had previously expressed on the bench.<ref>Ibid.</ref>

==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
Listed with the other parts of Coke's ''Institutes'' in the [[Jefferson Inventory]] of [[Wythe's Library]] as ''Coke’s Institutes. 3.v. fol.'' This was one of the sets kept by [[Thomas Jefferson]]. He may have sold to the Library of Congress in 1815. Three of the [[George Wythe Collection]] sources (Goodwin's pamphlet<ref>Mary R. M. Goodwin, [https://research.colonialwilliamsburg.org/DigitalLibrary/view/index.cfm?doc=ResearchReports\RR0216.xml ''The George Wythe House: Its Furniture and Furnishings''] (Williamsburg, Virginia: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, 1958), XLVI.</ref>, the [https://digitalarchive.wm.edu/handle/10288/13433 Brown Bibliography]<ref>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.</ref> and [http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe George Wythe's Library]<ref>''LibraryThing'', s.v. "[http://www.librarything.com/profile/GeorgeWythe Member: George Wythe]," accessed on March 12, 2014.</ref> on LibraryThing) include the second (1648) edition of ''The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England'', based on Millicent Sowerby's entry in ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'',<ref>E. Millicent Sowerby, ''Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson'', 2nd ed. (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 2:219 [[http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015033648109;view=1up;seq=233 no. 1784]]. The header on Sowerby's entry lists the 4th edition (1670) but the text of the entry lists the 1648 edition for ''The Fourth Part of the Institutes''.</ref> Jefferson's copy still exists with the third and fourth parts bound together, and it contains manuscript notes not in his hand. Neither have those notes been linked to Wythe, nor are there any other indications that the volume once belonged to Wythe. [[Dean Bibliography|Dean's Memo]]<ref>[[Dean Bibliography|Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean]], Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 10 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).</ref> lists the first (1644) edition of ''The Fourth Part'' based on notes in Jefferson's commonplace book.<ref>Gilbert Chinard, ed., ''The Commonplace Book of Thomas Jefferson: A Repertory of His Ideas on Government'' (Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1926), 14.</ref> The Wolf Law Library followed Dean's recommendation and purchased a copy of the first edition.
[[File:CokeFourthInstitute1644Inscription.jpg|center|thumb|350px|<center>Inscription, front pastedown.</center>]]

==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
Bound in contemporary calf with blind rules to boards and rebacked in period-style. Includes the inscription "Downing College Library" on the front pastedown. Purchased from the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/albums/72157637634574754 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [https://wm.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01COWM_INST/g9pr7p/alma991011781379703196 William & Mary's online catalog].

===Full text===
*[http://lawlibrary.wm.edu/wythepedia/library/CokeFourthPartOfTheInstitutesOfTheLawsOfEngland1644.pdf ''The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England''] (34MB PDF)

==See also==
*''[[Book of Entries|A Book of Entries]]''
*''[[First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England|The First Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England, or, A Commentary upon Littleton]]''
*[[George Wythe Room]]
*''[[Reports of Sir Edward Coke|The Reports of Sir Edward Coke]]''
*''[[Second Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England|The Second Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England: Containing the Exposition of Many Ancient and Other Statutes]]''
*''[[Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England|The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England: Concerning High Treason, and Other Pleas of the Crown, and Criminall Causes]]''
*[[Wythe's Library]]

==References==
<references/>

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[[Category:Courts]]
[[Category:Edward Coke]]
[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
[[Category:Possible Surviving Wythe Volumes]]
[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]

[[Category:English]]
[[Category:Folios]]
[[Category:London]]