Treatise of the Laws of England

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A Treatise of the Laws of England, on the Various Branches of Conveyancing

by John Perkins

A Treatise of the Laws of England, on the Various Branches of Conveyancing
George Wythe bookplate.jpg
Title not held by The Wolf Law Library
at the College of William & Mary.
 
Author John Perkins
Editor
Translator
Published :
Date
Edition ?
Language
Volumes volume set
Pages
Desc.


Precise edition unknown.


John Perkins’ best and only known work is formally known as ‘’A profitable book of Mr. John Perkins, sometimes fellow of the Inner Temple’’. It covers a range of topics including grants, deeds, exchanges, and surrenders. The book focuses on land law and may have been meant as a complement to Littleton’s more highly esteemed Tenures. [1] Specifically, Perkins deals with aspects of conveyance that Littleton did not. [2]

Despite Perkins’ abysmal reputation, the book became very popular and was widely in use many years after his death. It received qualified praise from many sources and was considered a source of legal authority. Sir Edward Coke referred to it as being “…wittily and learnedly composed”. [3] Another legal writer states that “…on account of the learning and ingenuity displayed in his Profitable Book on the laws of England, ‘’ought in general’’ to have considerable weight…”. [4]

John Perkins’s childhood is undocumented although it has been said that he was born to upper class parents and studied at Oxford. He was admitted to the “Inner Temple” about 1518 but did little to distinguish himself as a barrister from that point on. By the late 1530’s he was residing and practicing in Oxford. By this point in his life he had become mentally unstable and his behavior became erratic. In a letter written in 1537 he suggested suppressing an uprising in the north by killing women and children and raising and maintaining a contingent of archers and halberdiers at Oxford and Cambridge. A baseless accusation of treason and vices against two local abbots led to both his imprisonment and the end of his career. He died in 1545. [5]

References

  1. David Seipp, “Trust and Fiduciary Duty in the Early Common Law,” ‘’Boston University Law Review’’ 91 (2011):1011-1038.
  2. Ibid.
  3. Sir Edward Coke, The Reports of Sir Edward Coke, Knt.: In English, in Thirteen Parts Complete; with References to All the Ancient and Modern Books of the Law (London: J. Rivington, 1777), Accessed March 6, 201.
  4. Sir Edward Coke et al., The First Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England, Or, A Commentary Upon Littleton: Not the Name of the Author Only, But of the Law Itself (London: E. and R. Brooke, 1794), Accessed March 6, 2015.
  5. J.H. Baker, "[www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/21970 Perkins, John (d. 1545?)]," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press: 2004- ), Accessed March 6, 2015.

External Links

See bookplate in: Google Books Note: 14th ed.

Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library