RMGYMss.
LEAF FROM A REGISTER OF WRITS Ref 537 recto
This is a leaf from a Register of Writs ("Registrum Brevium") that was written in England, probably in London or Westminster, c.1350.
The text is from a Register of Writs, a book that was produced to provide a range of writs previously issued in Chancery that could serve as exemplars in the pursuit of any action in the protection of rights or liberties – the first step in the judicial process and the only means of implementing the law enacted in Statutes and which were the basis of medieval common law. The details of each writ are written briefly, thus giving the name “Registrum Brevium”.
Whilst I find the text virtually impossible to read (it is written in an "anglicana" chancery hand), it does seem that the first writ identified on the verso with paraph marks has something to do with a blood relationship. I say this because the word “consanguinity” (or derivations of it) is/are written in both the marginal introduction and the writ itself.
The size of the leaf is 192mm x 127 (7 11/20ins. x 5 ins.).
PROVENANCE: -
The leaf arrived in a card frame with some provenance attached.
The first is a slip with the reference “TFI 1964” and containing the following information: -
“FROM REGISTRUM BREVIUM, a most rare legal manuscript dated ca.1350 on vellum in a fine script that harkens to Carolingian. The black has faded to a soft brown, although the red and blue item notations have retained their rich colours. The blue is undoubtedly Lapis. This exceptional work is the recordings of the judicial proceedings in the reign of King Edward III, cases tried at the historic court of Westminster during one of England's most eventful periods. A very special item and a piece of history.”
The second is a business slip of “M. Revak & Co., Art, Letters, Literature of the Law, 1440 North Stone, Tucson, Arizona 85705 with an indication of a price of $600 (which has been altered from $500).
There are also pencil notes which are probably auction house or dealer reference numbers. These are BBH(over)X/CO and 14865.
The reference “TFI 1964” is a reference of Foliophiles Inc. that was the organisation of New York book dealer George M.L. Brown. Brown sold the company to a businessman Alfred Stites who changed the name to the Society of Foliophiles. Alfred Stites created portfolio sets of manuscripts under the title “Pages from the Past” and it is possible that this leaf is from one of those portfolios.
OTHER LEAVES: -
There is old (original?) foliation of “lxxxxij” (folio 92) in the upper right corner of the recto of this leaf. I have so far found only two other single leaves of which one is certainly from the same manuscript and the other is most probably from the same manuscript. They are: -
1. Columbia, University of Missouri, Ellis Library, Special Collections, RARE FO Z113.P3 item 8, part of a collection of 159 leaves and artefacts, Pages of the Past distributed by Foliophiles, Inc., of Washington D.C., the set dated 1967. Size given as 181mm x 130mm with 33 lines. The recto shows an old folio number of “lxxij” (72).
2. Phillip J. Pirages, catalogue 70 (2016), item 198 at $1,800. Size given as 188mm x 126mm with 33 lines. The picture is of the verso of the leaf so there is no folio number showing.
GENERAL COMMENTS: -
Whilst this leaf has suffered some mild age related wear it is from a type of manuscript from which it is uncommon to find single leaves. Although I have only been able to find two other examples that could have probably been from the same manuscript there could be upwards of 150 others elsewhere. I have been fortunate to have been able to add this leaf to the collection.
REGISTER OF WRITS OR REGISTRUM BREVIUM: -
The best description of a “Register of Writs” that I have found is that attached to the Pirages leaf in their catalogue. It states as follows: -
This is an uncommonly seen example of a leaf from a manual of procedural law known as the “Registrum Brevium” or “Register of Writs,” which functioned rather like case law digests in the modern practice of law. By listing the grounds on which previous cases had been filed, the registers provided lawyers with a reference list of causes of action that could be brought in the court. According to the Ames Foundation, “Their interest lies in the fact that no two of them are alike. Rather, each seems to have been made up to serve the needs and the interests of the person who had them made. . . . The selection of writs or statutes may be standard or quite idiosyncratic. Most of them seem to have been made for practising lawyers or administrators,” and, as such, they “provide an interesting insight into what lawyers and administrators in a given period thought might be useful.”
LEAF FROM A REGISTER OF WRITS Ref 537 recto
This is a leaf from a Register of Writs ("Registrum Brevium") that was written in England, probably in London or Westminster, c.1350.
The text is from a Register of Writs, a book that was produced to provide a range of writs previously issued in Chancery that could serve as exemplars in the pursuit of any action in the protection of rights or liberties – the first step in the judicial process and the only means of implementing the law enacted in Statutes and which were the basis of medieval common law. The details of each writ are written briefly, thus giving the name “Registrum Brevium”.
Whilst I find the text virtually impossible to read (it is written in an "anglicana" chancery hand), it does seem that the first writ identified on the verso with paraph marks has something to do with a blood relationship. I say this because the word “consanguinity” (or derivations of it) is/are written in both the marginal introduction and the writ itself.
The size of the leaf is 192mm x 127 (7 11/20ins. x 5 ins.).
PROVENANCE: -
The leaf arrived in a card frame with some provenance attached.
The first is a slip with the reference “TFI 1964” and containing the following information: -
“FROM REGISTRUM BREVIUM, a most rare legal manuscript dated ca.1350 on vellum in a fine script that harkens to Carolingian. The black has faded to a soft brown, although the red and blue item notations have retained their rich colours. The blue is undoubtedly Lapis. This exceptional work is the recordings of the judicial proceedings in the reign of King Edward III, cases tried at the historic court of Westminster during one of England's most eventful periods. A very special item and a piece of history.”
The second is a business slip of “M. Revak & Co., Art, Letters, Literature of the Law, 1440 North Stone, Tucson, Arizona 85705 with an indication of a price of $600 (which has been altered from $500).
There are also pencil notes which are probably auction house or dealer reference numbers. These are BBH(over)X/CO and 14865.
The reference “TFI 1964” is a reference of Foliophiles Inc. that was the organisation of New York book dealer George M.L. Brown. Brown sold the company to a businessman Alfred Stites who changed the name to the Society of Foliophiles. Alfred Stites created portfolio sets of manuscripts under the title “Pages from the Past” and it is possible that this leaf is from one of those portfolios.
OTHER LEAVES: -
There is old (original?) foliation of “lxxxxij” (folio 92) in the upper right corner of the recto of this leaf. I have so far found only two other single leaves of which one is certainly from the same manuscript and the other is most probably from the same manuscript. They are: -
1. Columbia, University of Missouri, Ellis Library, Special Collections, RARE FO Z113.P3 item 8, part of a collection of 159 leaves and artefacts, Pages of the Past distributed by Foliophiles, Inc., of Washington D.C., the set dated 1967. Size given as 181mm x 130mm with 33 lines. The recto shows an old folio number of “lxxij” (72).
2. Phillip J. Pirages, catalogue 70 (2016), item 198 at $1,800. Size given as 188mm x 126mm with 33 lines. The picture is of the verso of the leaf so there is no folio number showing.
GENERAL COMMENTS: -
Whilst this leaf has suffered some mild age related wear it is from a type of manuscript from which it is uncommon to find single leaves. Although I have only been able to find two other examples that could have probably been from the same manuscript there could be upwards of 150 others elsewhere. I have been fortunate to have been able to add this leaf to the collection.
REGISTER OF WRITS OR REGISTRUM BREVIUM: -
The best description of a “Register of Writs” that I have found is that attached to the Pirages leaf in their catalogue. It states as follows: -
This is an uncommonly seen example of a leaf from a manual of procedural law known as the “Registrum Brevium” or “Register of Writs,” which functioned rather like case law digests in the modern practice of law. By listing the grounds on which previous cases had been filed, the registers provided lawyers with a reference list of causes of action that could be brought in the court. According to the Ames Foundation, “Their interest lies in the fact that no two of them are alike. Rather, each seems to have been made up to serve the needs and the interests of the person who had them made. . . . The selection of writs or statutes may be standard or quite idiosyncratic. Most of them seem to have been made for practising lawyers or administrators,” and, as such, they “provide an interesting insight into what lawyers and administrators in a given period thought might be useful.”