Difference between revisions of "Orphan's Legacy"

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<div style="margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em;"><big>Godolphin, John. ''The Orphan's Legacy: Or, A Testamentary Abridgment. In Three Parts. I. Of Last Wills And Testaments. II. Of Executors And Administrators. III. Of Legacies And Devises. Wherein The Most Material Points Of Law Relating To That Subject, Are Succintly Treated, As Well According To The Common And Temporal, As Ecclesiastical And Civil Laws Of This Realm.'' London: Printed by the assigns of Richard and Edward Atkins, esquires, for Robert Vincent, 1701. </big></div>
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{{DISPLAYTITLE:''The Orphan's Legacy: or, A Testamentary Abridgment. In Three Parts''}}
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===by John Godolphin===
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__NOTOC__
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|shorttitle=The Orphan's Legacy
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|author=[[:Category:John Godolphin|John Godolphin]]
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|publisher=Printed by the assigns of Richard and Edward Atkins, esquires, for Robert Vincent
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|year=1701
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}}[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Godolphin John Godolphin] (1617 &ndash; 1678), a civil lawyer, was born to a prominent Cornish family in 1617 and matriculated from Gloucester Hall, Oxford, in 1632.<ref>Jeffrey R. Collins, "[http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.wm.edu/view/article/10879 Godolphin, John (1617–1678)]," ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed April 23, 2013.</ref> After graduating with a BA (1635) and BCL (1636), Godolphin was admitted to the faculty with the degree of doctor of civil law. It is said that Godolphin’s works were “puritannically inclined,”<ref>Anthony Wood believed Godolphin’s works were promoted because of Godolphin’s Puritan intentions. (Wood, Ath. Oxon., 3.1152).</ref> which makes sense given that he published both theological works and legal works.
  
Fourth, final and best edition. A one-time judge of the English court of admiralty, Godolphin enjoyed a reputation as a staunch defender of civil law.<ref>Jeffrey R. Collins, ‘Godolphin, John (1617–1678)’, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008,[http://www.oxforddnb.com.proxy.wm.edu/view/article/10879, accessed 20 April 2013]</ref> This work, first published in 1674, covers a "subject dear to the civilian lawyers: the law of testate."<ref>Collins, 'Godolphin.'</ref>
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Godolphin was appointed as a judge of the admiralty court by Parliament in 1653, and was re-appointed in 1659. After the Restoration, he continued to practice law privately. Godolphin became known as an advocate of the civil law, making many contributions to the understanding of the law through his writings. ''The Orphan's Legacy'', published in 1674, made a profound contribution to the law of wills.
  
==Place in Wythe's Library==
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"The first really able books upon ecclesiastical law as a whole were written by Godolphin in the latter half of the seventeenth century.... [one of them is his] ''Orphan's Legacy'' [which deals with the subject] from the point of view not only of the ecclesiastical law, but also of the common law, and of the rising jurisdiction of the Chancellor."<ref>Holdsworth, ''A History of English Law'', V:12; Sweet & Maxwell, ''Bibliography of the British Commonwealth'' 1:492 (13).</ref>
Quoted in [[John Marshall|John Marshall's]] notes while he studied law under Wythe. Used in Wythe arguments in Bolling v. Bolling.
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==Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library==
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Both [[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), 11 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).</ref> and 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> suggest Wythe owned the fourth (1701) edition of John Godolphin's ''The Orphan's Legacy'' based on notes in John Marshall's commonplace book.<ref>''The Papers of John Marshall,'' eds. Herbert A. Johnson, Charles T. Cullen, and Nancy G. Harris (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, in association with the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1974), 1:43.</ref> Brown also notes that Wythe cited ''The Orphan's Legacy'' in his arguments for ''[[Bolling v. Bolling]]'', "Obj. Godolph. 281. 'If a man, by will, says, my will, pleasure or desire is that he shall have, or receive, or keep, or retain, these, or the like words, are sufficient to create a good bequest."<ref>''Thomas Jefferson and Bolling v. Bolling: Law and the Legal Profession in Pres-Revolutionary America'' ed. Bernard Schwartz, Barbara Wilcie Kern, R. B. Bernstein (San Marino, CA: The Huntingdon Library; New York: New York University School of Law, 1997), 317-318.</ref> The Wolf Law Library followed the suggestions of Brown and Dean, and purchased a copy of the 1701 edition.
  
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
 
==Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy==
Early nineteenth-century three-quarter calf over marbled boards, raised bands and lettering piece to spine, endpapers renewed. Some rubbing to boards and extremities, corners bumped and lightly worn, partial crack to text block between title page and following leaf. Toning, minor scribbling (a child's signature?) to margins of a leaf, tiny inkspots to a few others.
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Bound in early nineteenth-century three-quarter calf over marbled boards with raised bands and a lettering piece to the spine. Purchased from the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.
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Images of the library's copy of this book are [https://www.flickr.com/photos/wolflawlibrary/albums/72157637633417604 available on Flickr.] View the record for this book in [http://wm-primo.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/01COWM_WM:EVERYTHING:01COWM_WM_ALMA21551584580003196 William & Mary's online catalog.]
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===Full text===
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*[http://lawlibrary.wm.edu/wythepedia/library/GodolphinOrphansLegacy1701.pdf ''The Orphan's Legacy''] (30MB PDF)
  
===References===
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==See also==
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*[[George Wythe Room]]
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*[[Wythe's Library]]
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==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
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==External links==
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*Read this book at the [https://archive.org/details/orphanslegacyort00godo Internet Archive.]
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[[Category:George Wythe Collection at William & Mary's Wolf Law Library]]
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[[Category:John Godolphin]]
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[[Category:Titles in Wythe's Library]]
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[[Category:Wills]]
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[[Category:English]]
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[[Category:London]]
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[[Category:Octavos]]

Revision as of 11:32, 14 June 2018

by John Godolphin

The Orphan's Legacy
GodolphinOrphan'sLegacy1701.jpg

Title page from The Orphan's Legacy, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.

Author John Godolphin
Editor {{{editor}}}
Translator {{{trans}}}
Published London: Printed by the assigns of Richard and Edward Atkins, esquires, for Robert Vincent
Date 1701
Edition Fourth ed. much augm. and enl.
Language English
Volumes {{{set}}} volume set
Pages 4, 478 (i. e. 476), [20]
Desc. 8vo (24 cm.)
Location Shelf F-3
  [[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

John Godolphin (1617 – 1678), a civil lawyer, was born to a prominent Cornish family in 1617 and matriculated from Gloucester Hall, Oxford, in 1632.[1] After graduating with a BA (1635) and BCL (1636), Godolphin was admitted to the faculty with the degree of doctor of civil law. It is said that Godolphin’s works were “puritannically inclined,”[2] which makes sense given that he published both theological works and legal works.

Godolphin was appointed as a judge of the admiralty court by Parliament in 1653, and was re-appointed in 1659. After the Restoration, he continued to practice law privately. Godolphin became known as an advocate of the civil law, making many contributions to the understanding of the law through his writings. The Orphan's Legacy, published in 1674, made a profound contribution to the law of wills.

"The first really able books upon ecclesiastical law as a whole were written by Godolphin in the latter half of the seventeenth century.... [one of them is his] Orphan's Legacy [which deals with the subject] from the point of view not only of the ecclesiastical law, but also of the common law, and of the rising jurisdiction of the Chancellor."[3]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Both Dean's Memo[4] and the Brown Bibliography[5] suggest Wythe owned the fourth (1701) edition of John Godolphin's The Orphan's Legacy based on notes in John Marshall's commonplace book.[6] Brown also notes that Wythe cited The Orphan's Legacy in his arguments for Bolling v. Bolling, "Obj. Godolph. 281. 'If a man, by will, says, my will, pleasure or desire is that he shall have, or receive, or keep, or retain, these, or the like words, are sufficient to create a good bequest."[7] The Wolf Law Library followed the suggestions of Brown and Dean, and purchased a copy of the 1701 edition.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Bound in early nineteenth-century three-quarter calf over marbled boards with raised bands and a lettering piece to the spine. Purchased from the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

Images of the library's copy of this book are available on Flickr. View the record for this book in William & Mary's online catalog.

Full text

See also

References

  1. Jeffrey R. Collins, "Godolphin, John (1617–1678)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press, 2004- ), accessed April 23, 2013.
  2. Anthony Wood believed Godolphin’s works were promoted because of Godolphin’s Puritan intentions. (Wood, Ath. Oxon., 3.1152).
  3. Holdsworth, A History of English Law, V:12; Sweet & Maxwell, Bibliography of the British Commonwealth 1:492 (13).
  4. Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean, Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 11 (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).
  5. 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
  6. The Papers of John Marshall, eds. Herbert A. Johnson, Charles T. Cullen, and Nancy G. Harris (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, in association with the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1974), 1:43.
  7. Thomas Jefferson and Bolling v. Bolling: Law and the Legal Profession in Pres-Revolutionary America ed. Bernard Schwartz, Barbara Wilcie Kern, R. B. Bernstein (San Marino, CA: The Huntingdon Library; New York: New York University School of Law, 1997), 317-318.

External links