de Legibus Et Consuetudinibus Angliae, Libri Quinque

The first treatise on English law. Reprint of the second edition, which was a reissue of the first edition (1569). [4], v-xii (new introduction), [xxx], 444 [i.e. 442] fol. [916 pp.] The pagination of the 1569 and 1640 issues is identical. A systematic work, it emphasizes the separation of procedural and substantive matters and also cites cases as sources of at least intellectual, if not formal, authority. In Maitland's words, Bracton's Legibus is "the crown and flower of English medieval jurisprudence" and "by far the greatest of our medieval law books." Sweet & Maxwell adds that it "is distinguished by rich casuistic details, and by the careful reproduction of the judicial decisions on individual cases of law.": Sweet & Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth 1:51 (6).