Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the High Court of Chancery, in the Time of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke

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by John Tracy Atkyns

Atkyns' Reports
AtkynsReportsOfCases1765.jpg

Title page from Atkyns' Reports, volume one, George Wythe Collection, Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary.

Author John Tracy Atkyns
Editor {{{editor}}}
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Published London: Printed by H. Woodfall and W. Strahan
Date 1765
Edition First
Language English
Volumes 3 volume set
Pages {{{pages}}}
Desc. Folio (32 cm.)
Location Shelf I-5
  [[Shelf {{{shelf2}}}]]

John Tracy Atkyns (1706 – 1773) entered the bar in 1732 and accepted an appointment as cursitor (chief) baron of the Exchequer in 1755.[1] He took notes on chancery cases from 1736-1756, predominantly during the time of Lord Hardwicke, but Atkyns had to wait until Hardwicke's death to commence publication.[2] The first two editions of the three volume set received criticism based on quality, but the third edition, edited by F. W. Sanders, was more highly regarded.[3]

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Ordered by Wythe from John Norton & Sons in a letter dated May 8, 1770. Records indicate the order was fulfilled.[4] Listed in the Jefferson Inventory of Wythe's Library as "Atkyns's rep. 1st. & 3d.v. fol." and given by Thomas Jefferson to Dabney Carr. A copy of the first edition (1765) at the University of Virginia with the inscription "Given by Thos. Jefferson to D. Carr 1806" in volume one is probably Wythe's copy. All four of the Wythe Collection sources (Goodwin's pamphlet[5], Dean's Memo[6], Brown's Bibliography[7] and George Wythe's Library[8] on LibraryThing) list the first edition of this work, and the Wolf Law Library purchased that edition.

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Rebound in period-style calf with black morocco gilt labels. Volume one inscribed "Jack Power" on title page; volumes two and three inscribed "J. Power."

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. William Holdsworth, A History of English Law, (London: Methuen & Co., Sweet and Maxwell, 1938), 12:143.
  2. N. G. Jones, "Atkyns, John Tracy (1706–1773)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, accessed September 7, 2013.
  3. Holdsworth, A History of English Law, 143.
  4. Frances Norton Mason, ed., John Norton & Sons, Merchants of London and Virginia: Being the Papers from their Counting House for the Years 1750 to 1795 (Richmond, Virginia: Dietz Press, 1937), 133-134. The letter is endorsed "Virga. 7th May 1770 / George Wythe / Rec'd 18 June pr Dixon / goods Entd. pa. 220 / Ans. the 28th July / pr Emperor / wrote again pr Goosley."
  5. Mary R. M. Goodwin, The George Wythe House: Its Furniture and Furnishings (Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library, 1958), XLV.
  6. Memorandum from Barbara C. Dean, Colonial Williamsburg Found., to Mrs. Stiverson, Colonial Williamsburg Found. (June 16, 1975), 6a (on file at Wolf Law Library, College of William & Mary).
  7. 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.
  8. LibraryThing, s.v. "Member: George Wythe," accessed on June 28, 2013.

External Links

Read volume one of this book in Google Books.