Institutes of the Lawes of England

Institutes of the Lawes of England

File:Edward Coke, The First Part of the Institvtes of the Lawes of England (1st ed, 1628, title page) - 20131124.jpg Title page of the first volume of the first edition
Author	Edward Coke
Country	England
Language	English
Subject	English law
Genre	Non-fiction
Published	1628–1644
Pages	Part I: 395; Part II: 745; Part III: 243; Part IV: 364
LC Class	Part I: KD833.C6; Part II: KD660.C6; Parts III and IV: KD7869.C64

The Institutes of the Lawes of England are a series of legal treatises written by Sir Edward Coke. They were first published, in stages, between 1628 and 1644. Widely recognized as a foundational document of the common law, they have been cited in over 70 cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, including several landmark cases. For example, in Roe v. Wade (1973), Coke's Institutes are cited as evidence that under old English common law, an abortion performed before quickening was not an indictable offence. In the much earlier case of United States v. E. C. Knight Co. (1895), Coke's Institutes are quoted at some length for their definition of monopolies.

First editions

The Institutes of the Lawes of England are divided into four parts, the first editions of which are as follows:

• . Often called Coke on Littleton (abbreviated "Co. Litt."), it is a commentary on Thomas de Littleton's treatise on land tenure.
  • An index of the First Part was published as .

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Selected later editions

First Part of the Institvtes of the Lawes of England (1st ed., 1628, title page)	Second Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England (1st ed., 1642, title page)
Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England (1st ed., 1644, title page)	Fourth Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England (2nd ed., 1648, title page)
Title pages of the first editions of the First, Second and Third Parts of the Institutes, and of the second edition of the Fourth Part

• Editions printed by Andrew Crooke, et al. (1669–1671).
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• Editions printed by John Streater, et al. (1670–1671).
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• Editions printed by William Rawlins, et al. (1680–1684).
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A portrait of Edward Coke from the frontispiece of The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England (4th ed., 1669)

• 15th edition (1794–1797).
  • . 3 vols.:
    • Volume I.
    • Volume II.
    • Volume III.
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• 19th edition (1832).
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• 1st American edition (1853), based on the 19th London edition.
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• 2003 Liberty Fund edition. . 3 vols.
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See also

• Books of authority
• Rule of law

External links

• Selected Works of Edward Coke at the Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics, maintained by Jon Roland of the Constitution Society – PDFs of the Institutes and some of Coke's law reports are available