Ancient Laws and Institutes of England

Book excerpt: [Thorpe, B(enjamin), Editor]. Ancient Laws and Institutes of England; Comprising Laws Enacted under the Anglo-Saxon Kings from Athelbirtht to Cnut, With an English Translation of the Saxon; The Laws called Edward the Confessor's; The Laws of William the Conqueror, and those Ascribef to Henry the First: Also, Monumenta Ecclesiastica Anglicana, From the Seventh to the Tenth Century; and the Ancient Latin Version of the Anglo-Saxon Laws. With a Compendious Glossary, &c. [London: Printed by George E. Eyre and Andrew Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, 1840]. x, [iv], 548, [79] pp. (10" X 14"). Reprinted 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 2002024242. ISBN 1-58477-264-6. Cloth. $195. * A critical edition of laws issued before 1066 based on original manuscript sources, with most in their original languages. With thorough notes, extensive commentary, a concordance of sources, an index to the Anglo-Saxon laws and an index to the Monumenta Ecclesiastica. Benjamin Thorpe [1782-1870] was a well-known Anglo-Saxon scholar and translator who published a number of principal works in this field, including the important Analecta Anglo-Saxonica. This edition remains a standard source for scholars of this period. Dictionary of National Biography XIX: 795-796.