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LAW 8308: History of Anglo-American Legal Institutions: Treatises: English, U.S. Legal History

Prepared for Professor Joshua Tate's History of Anglo-American Legal Institutions course

Treatises: English Legal History (Highly Selective)

Additional treatises on English legal history are generally available on the law library's 4th floor under call numbers KD353 through KD665.

  • John H. Baker, An Introduction to English Legal History (2005). [KD532 .B34 2005].

  • Daniel R. Coquillette, The Anglo-American Legal Heritage (2004). [KD532 .C67 2004].

  • English Legal History and its Sources: Essays in Honour of Sir John Baker (David Ibbetson et al. eds., 2019). [KD606 .E54 2019].

  • R.H. Helmholz, The Profession of Ecclesiastical Lawyers: An Historical Introduction (2019). [KD620 .H45 2019].

  • W.S. Holdsworth, A History of English Law (1903-72) [KD660 .H6 1903-72]. 17 volumes.

  • John Hudson, The Formation of the English Common Law: Law and Society in England from King Alfred to Magna Carta (2018). [KD671 .H83 2018].

  • Frederick G. Kempin, Historical Introduction to Anglo-American Law in a Nutshell (1990). [Reserve KD532 .Z9 K44 1990]. Also available electronically in West Academic Study Aids.

  • Kurt von S. Kynell, Saxon and Medieval Antecedents of the English Common Law (2000). [KD554 .K96 2000].

  • Law and Legal Process: Substantive Law and Procedure in English Legal History (Matthew Dyson & David Ibbetson eds., 2013). [KD460 .A75 2013].

  • Thomas Lund, The Creation of the Common Law:  The Medieval "Year Books" Deciphered (2015). [KD606 .L86 2015].

  • Oxford Handbook of Legal History (Markus Dirk Dubber & Christopher L. Tomlins eds., 2018). [K100 .O94 2018]. Multinational focus.

  • Oxford History of the Laws of England (2003- ). Note: Volumes 3-5 and 7-10 are not yet published.

v. 1, Canon Law and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction from 597 to the 1640s [KD660 .O94 2003].

v. 2, 817-1216 (2012), also available as an e-book in the library catalog.

v. 6, 1483-1558 [KD660 .O94 v. 6], also available as an e-book in the library catalog.

v. 11-13, 1820-1914 [KD660 .O94 v. 11, v. 12, v.13], also available as e-books in the library catalog.

  • T.F.T. Plucknett, Early English Legal Literature (William W. Gaunt 1986). [KD606 .P56 1986].

  • David Chan Smith, Sir Edward Coke and the Reformation of the Laws: Religion, Politics and Jurisprudence, 1578-1616 (2014). [KD621 .S65 2014].

  • Research Handbook on Adoption Law (Nigel Lowe & Claire Fenton-Glynn eds., 2023), available as an e-book in the library catalog.
  • Russell Sandberg, A Historical Introduction to English Law: Genesis of the Common Law (2022). [KD606 .S26 2023].

  • Joshua C. Tate, Power and Justice in Medieval England: Law of Patronage and the Royal Courts (2022). [KD8725 .T38 2022].

  • Wills and Testaments in Medieval England from the Thirteenth to the Sixteenth Century (Robert A. Wood, comp. & trans., 2023). [KD1509 .W663 2023].

  • Patrick Wormald, The Making of English Law: King Alfred to the Twelfth Century (1999). [KD554 .W67 1999].

Treatises: U.S. Legal History (Highly Selective)

Additional treatises on U.S. legal history are generally available on the law library's 4th floor under call numbers KF350 through KF366.

  • Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law (2019). [KF352 .F7 2019].

  • Lawrence M. Friedman, American Law in the 20th Century (2002). [KF385 .A4 F7 2002].

  • Grant Gilmore, The Ages of American Law (Philip Bobbitt ed., 2014). [KF352 .A2 G5 2014]. Update of Gilmore's book originally issued in 1974.

  • Kermit L. Hall, The Magic Mirror: Law in American History (1999). [KF352 .H35 1989].

  • R.H. Helmholz, Natural Law in Court: A History of Legal Theory in Practice (2015). [K415 .H45 2015].

  • Morton J. Horwitz, The Transformation of American Law, 1780-1860 (1977). [KF366 .H6].

  • Morton J. Horwitz, The Transformation of American Law, 1870-1960:  The Crisis of Legal Orthodoxy (1992). [KF380 .H67 1992].

  • John B. Nann & Morris L. Cohen, The Yale Law School Guide to Research in American Legal History (2018). [KF240. N36 2018].

  • Providing for the Poor: The Old Poor Law, 1750-1834 (Peter Collinge & Louise Falcini eds., 2022), available in the library catalog.

  • David M. Rabban, Law's History: American Legal Thought and the Transatlantic Turn to History (2013). [KF380 .R33 2013].

  • Joseph A. Ranney, A Legal History of Mississippi: Race, Class, and the Struggle for Opportunity (2019). [KFM6678 .R36 2019].

  • Joseph A. Ranney, The Burdens of All: A Social History of American Tort Law (2022). [KF1250 .R36 2022].

  • Signposts: New Directions in Southern Legal History (Sally E. Hadden & Patricia Hagler Minter eds., 2013). [KF352 .A2 S57 2013).

  • Erwin C. Surrency, A History of American Law Publishing (1990).  [Z479 .S87 1990].

  • G. Edward. White, Law in American History (2012). [KF352 .W48 2012]. 3 volumes.

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