Institutes of the Lawes of England
Title page of the first volume of the first edition
AuthorEdward Coke
CountryEngland
LanguageEnglish
SubjectEnglish law
GenreNon-fiction
Published1628–1644
PagesPart I: 395; Part II: 745; Part III: 243; Part IV: 364
LC ClassPart I: KD833.C6; Part II: KD660.C6; Parts III and IV: KD7869.C64

The Institutes of the Lawes of England are a series of legal treatises written by Sir Edward Coke. They were first published, in stages, between 1628 and 1644.[1] Widely recognized as a foundational document of the common law, they have been cited in over 70 cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States,[2] including several landmark cases. For example, in Roe v. Wade (1973),[3] Coke's Institutes are cited as evidence that under old English common law, an abortion performed before quickening was not an indictable offence. In the much earlier case of United States v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895),[4] Coke's Institutes are quoted at some length for their definition of monopolies.[5] The Institutes's various reprinted editions well into the 19th century is a clear indication of the long lasting value placed on this work throughout especially the 18th century in Britain and Europe. It has also been associated through the years with high literary connections. For example, David Hume in 1764 requested it from the bookseller Andrew Millar in a cheap format for a French friend.[6]

Contents

A portrait of Edward Coke from the frontispiece of The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England (4th ed., 1669)[7]

First Part

The First Part's subtitle is a "Commentary upon Littleton", concerning land law and property law. Often called Coke on Littleton (abbreviated "Co. Litt."), it is a commentary on Thomas de Littleton's treatise on land tenure.[8]

Second Part

The Second Part's subtitle is "Containing the Exposition of Many Ancient and Other Statutes", particularly Magna Carta.[9]

Third Part

The Third Part's subtitle is "Concerning High Treason and other Please of the Crown and Criminal Causes".

Fourth Part

The Fourth Part's subtitle is "Concerning the Jurisdiction of the Courts".

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Paul Axel-Lute (4 January 2010), Finding English Statutes & Cases & Selected "Books of Authority" at the Rutgers–Newark Law Library, Rutgers Law Library – Newark, archived from the original on 7 May 2013.
  2. ↑ LexisNexis search performed 1 May 2008. See also Impression Prods., Inc. v. Lexmark Int’l, Inc., 581 U.S. _, 137 S. Ct. 1523, 1532 (2017); Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 568 U.S. 519, 538 (2013).
  3. ↑ Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, 134 (1973).
  4. ↑ United States v. E. C. Knight Co., 156 U.S. 1, 10 (1895).
  5. ↑ See also Straus v. Victor Talking Machine Co., 243 U.S. 490, 501 (1917), in which the Supreme Court referred to the respondent’s restrictive practices (in violation of the principle of Coke”s Institutes, section 360, as ones that "have been hateful to the law from Lord Coke's day to ours."
  6. ↑ "The manuscripts, Letter from Andrew Millar to David Hume, 24 April, 1764. Andrew Millar Project. University of Edinburgh". www.millar-project.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
  7. ↑ The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England; Concerning High Treason, and other Pleas of the Crown, and Criminal Causes. The Fourth Edition. Authore Edw. Coke, Milite (4th ed.), London: Printed for A[ndrew] Crooke, W[illiam] Leake, A[bel] Roper, F[rancis] Tyton, T[homas] Dring, T[homas] Collins, J[ohn] Place, W[illiam] Place, J[ohn] Starkey, T[homas] Bassett, R[obert] Pawlett, S[amuel] Heyrick, and G[eorge] Dawes, booksellers in Fleetstreet and Holborn, 1669, OCLC 9515015.
  8. ↑ First published as Thomas de Littleton (1482), Tenannt en fee simple est celuy ... [A tenant in fee simple is he who ...], London: Imp[re]ssi p[er] nos Ioh[an]e[s] lettou [et] Will[es] de machlinia i citate Londonia[rum] [Printed by us, John Lettou and William de Machlinia in the City of London], OCLC 216889609 (the title is from the opening words of the text).
  9. ↑ See Second Part (1797)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Institutes of the Lawes of England by Edward Coke.
First editions

The Institutes of the Lawes of England are divided into four parts, the first editions of which are as follows:

  • The First Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England. Or, a Commentarie upon Littleton, Not the Name of a Lawyer Onely, but of the Law it selfe, London: Printed [by Adam Islip] for the Societe of Stationers, 1628, OCLC 84760833.
    • An index of the First Part was published as A Table to the First Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England, Digested into Alphabeticall Order and Method, London: M[iles] Flesher, J[ohn] Haviland, and R[obert] Young, the assigns of J[ohn] More, 1630, OCLC 55166464.
  • The Second Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England. Containing the Exposition of Many Ancient, and other Statutes; whereof You may See the Particulars in a Table Following, London: Printed by M[iles] Flesher and R[obert] Young for E[phraim] D[awson], R[ichard] M[eighen], W[illiam] L[ee] and D[aniel], 1642, p. [akeman], OCLC 228722563.
  • The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England: Concerning High Treason, and Other Pleas of the Crown, and Criminall Causes, London: Printed by M[iles] Flesher, for W[illiam] Lee and D[aniel] Pakeman, 1644, OCLC 12388731.
  • The Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England: Concerning the Jurisdiction of Courts, London: Printed ... by M[iles] Flesher, for W[illiam] Lee, and D[aniel] Pakeman, 1644, OCLC 83289236.
Selected later editions
First Part of the Institvtes of the Lawes of England (1st ed., 1628, title page) Second Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England (1st ed., 1642, title page)
Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England (1st ed., 1644, title page) Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England (1st ed., 1644, title page)
Title pages of the first editions of the First, Second and Third and Fourth Parts of the Institutes

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.