Preview
Identifier
KD 200 1650 .C6 A38 1650
Creation Date
1650
Description
Coke, Sir Edward. An Exact Abridgment in English, Of the Eleven Books of Reports of the Learned Sir Edward Coke, Knight, Late Lord Chiefe Justice of England, and of the Councel of Estate to His Majestie, King James. Edited by Sir Thomas Ireland. 1st ed. London: Printed by M. Simmons, For Matthew Walbancke, 1650.
Sir Edward Coke (1552–1634) published the first eleven books of his reports between 1600 and 1615. They were unlike any reports before or since. Organized by subject instead of more linearly by case, they represent essays on legal principles and may have been intended as much for the student as the practitioner. They enjoyed such an esteemed reputation that they were frequently cited merely as "The Reports." In his abridgment which first appeared in 1650, Ireland attempts to winnow Coke's commentary and present only the "very pith and substance" of the cases reported. This copy is marked by the signatures of prior owners on the title page and the armorial bookplate of Noble Wallwyn Pytts on the front pastedown. Manuscript notes on the blank pages at the end of the book may be in the hand of Pytts.
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