English legal history sources and editions

1. Bodleian Law Library
The Ames Foundation &
history of English
common law

2. http://amesfoundation.law.
harvard.edu/

3. Ames Publications 1914 on
 11 volumes to date
 Most commonly used are its series of
Year Books of Richard II
 7 v to date for years 2, 6-13 RII
 law French text, + Latin text of the
record of the case & English
translation of both on facing page
 Scholarly introduction, tables, and
elaborate indexes

4. Ames publications also
 Beale’s Bibliography of Early English
Law Books, & Supplement
 Lex mercatoria & Legal Pluralism, a
(13th treatise with introduction and
commentary
 Proceedings Before the Justices of
the Peace in the (14th & (15th
 The Common and Piepowder Courts
of Southampton, 1426–1483

6. HeinOnline
Go down the
Collections list
till you get to
Selden Society
Publications
and the History
of Early English
Law

7. Expand: click on title or +

8. Click on Ames Foundation
link

10. Citations
 “AS” or similiar not necessarily part
of citation
 The regnal year will be the clue
Eg Raynell v Cruwys (1389) YB Pas 12
Ric II, p.182, pl.21
 (contrast with usual practice to
include SS or EELR for Selden
Society volumes)

11. Raynell v Cruwys (1389) YB
Pas 12 Ric II, p.182, pl.21

12. If you have page citation
use drop down menu
Note
doubling of
page
numbers…..

13. Two/double
numbers because
…
First one will take you
to original text of the
case in Law French …

14. Second instance of
number
Will take you to the English
translation

15. If you don’t have citation
 It is probably
better to use the
scanned indexes to
pick up relevant
page references
 Rather than using
the Search within
function for each
individual scan

17. http://www.law.harvard.edu/li
brary/digital/ames/index.html

18. Open Access – free web

19. Great asset to YB studies

20. “Statham’s” Abridgement