De Laudibus Legum Angliae

Book excerpt: Fortescue, Sir John. De Laudibus Legum Angliae. A Treatise in Commendation of the Laws of England. With Translation by Francis Gregor. Notes by Andrew Amos and a Life of the Author by Thomas (Fortescue) Lord Clermont. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke & Co., 1874. lxiv, 302 pp. Reprinted 1999 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 99-16485. ISBN 1-58477-019-8. Hardcover. * Written in 1470, De Laudibus was intended for the instruction of Edward, Prince of Wales. Written in the form of a dialogue, this book contains one of the earliest sketches of the English legal system. This is the first appearance of the modern edition, based on the 1825 Amos edition, which includes for the first time the life of the author by Lord Clermont, a direct descendant, as well as his corrected version of both the text and translation, these having appeared only in an 1869 privately published edition of Fortescue's works limited to 120 family copies.