Court-Hand Restored or, The Student's Assistant in Reading Old Deeds.
Wright, Andrew. Court-Hand Restored or, The Student's Assistant in Reading Old Deeds, Charters, Records, Etc. Neatly Engraved..., Describing the Old Law Hands, With Their Contractions and Abbreviations. With an Appendix Containing the Ancient Names of Places in Great Britain and Ireland; An Alphabetical Table of Ancient Surnames; and a Glossography of Latin Words Found in the Works of the Most Eminent Lawyers, and Other Ancient Writings, But Not in Any Modern Dictionaries. Originally published: London: Reeves and Turner, 1879. xviii, 99 pp. Thirty plates. Reprinted 2006 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 9781584775492. ISBN-10: 1584775491. Hardcover. New. $29.95 * Reprint of the ninth edition, the best and final edition with full-size plates. Law-French and Latin were falling out of use by the time they were finally abolished in England by statute in 1733. These languages and their conventions had become esoteric by the time Wright's volume appeared. Written by a member of the last generation to master them in the course of his legal education, it was intended to be a kind of Rosetta stone for the contemporary barrister and scholar. Long a standard work, this reference went through ten editions by 1912. The ninth edition is preferred because it has better plates (derived from copper engravings rather than photostats). It remains an indispensable guide when consulting early charters, deeds or records.
Price: $29.95
Book number 41586