Termes de la Ley

Expositiones terminorum legum Angliae ('Explanation of legal terms used in England') (1527) is a legal glossary compiled by John Rastell. Although the title is in Latin, the work was written in Law French. This Law French edition did not reappear. However, it was translated by his son, William Rastell, into English and published in 1563 as An Exposition of Certaine Difficult and Obscure Wordes and Termes of the Lawes of This Realme.^[1][2] Many editions followed through 1618. After 1620, the work was published and known as Les Termes de la Ley, and it was also often reprinted under that title.^[3]

This work and The Abbreviacion of Statutis (1519) are the best known of Rastell's legal writings.^[4] Lord Kenyon said that it is "a very excellent book".^[5]

Duke LJ. said that this book was "a work of very good authority and the application of the common law".^[6] He, and Atkin LJ, approved the definition of imprisonment contained in this book.^[7]

See also 4 Reeves 419 and 3 Dib Ames 90.^{[further explanation needed]}

See also

• Books of authority

References

1. Gillow, Joseph (1968). A Literary and Biographical History; or, Bibliographical Dictionary of the English Catholics. Vol. 5. New York: Burt Franklin. pp. 391–392. OCLC 555243129.
2. Tomlins, Christopher L. (2001). The Many Legalities of Early America. University of North Carolina Press. p. 51, n. 8. ISBN 978-0-8078-2632-4. OCLC 833764357.
3. WordCat catalogue.
4.  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Rastell, John". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 914.
5. [[Marvin, J. G. (1847). Legal Bibliography, or A Thesaurus of American, English, Irish, and Scotch Law Books. Philadelphia: T. & J. W. Johnson. p. 599.| Page 599] at Google Books.
6. Meering v Grahame White Aviation Co (1919) 122 LT 44, [1918-19] All ER Rep 1490 at 1502 and 1503. (The passage in question is set out in R v Sayle, 29 September 2008, Court of General Gaol Delivery, Isle of Man.)
7. Ibid., and at 1507.

External links

• Scan of the 1636 edition at Google Books
• Hypertext version of the 1685 edition at Text Creation Partnership