Treatise of Testaments and Last Wills

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by Henry Swinburne

Swinburne's lasting claim to fame is as the author of two books on ecclesiastical law. The first of these, A Briefe Treatise of Testaments and Last Wills, was the first work of canon law to be published in English, rather than in Latin. It appeared in 1591 (date of colophon) and became a standard work. The second edition was published, under Swinburne's own supervision, in 1611, and the last of seven further editions was issued in 1803. His other published work, A Treatise of Spousals, or Matrimonial Contracts, appeared posthumously in 1686, with a further edition in 1711. This work on the law of matrimonial contracts was the first part of an uncompleted four-part work that was intended to include further sections on marriage, divorce, and bastardy. The two opening chapters of the section on marriage exist in a manuscript, believed to be in Swinburne's own hand (Durham University). [1]

Bibliographic Information

Author: Henry Swinburne, (c.1551-1624)

Title: A Treatise Of Testaments And Last Wills: Compiled Out Of The Laws Ecclesiastical, Civil, And Canon, As Also Out Of The Common Law, Customs And Statutes Of This Realm

Published: London, In the Savoy: Printed by Henry Lintot (assignee of Edw. Sayer, esq.) and sold by S. Birt, 1743.

Edition:

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library

Description of the Wolf Law Library's copy

Recently rebound in red buckram; autographs: C.P. Sherman 1881; [J.R.] Tyson; [Greaves].

References

  1. Sheila Doyle, ‘Swinburne, Henry (c.1551–1624)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 11 June 2013