An Inquiry into the Origin of the Laws and Political Institutions.

ISBN-13: 9781584776840; ISBN-10: 1584776846. Spence, George. An Inquiry into the Origin of the Laws and Political Institutions of Modern Europe, Particularly Those of England. London: John Murray, 1826. xxxvi, 600 pp. Reprinted 2006 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. With a new introduction by Michael H. Hoeflich, John H. & John M. Kane Professor of Law, University of Kansas School of Law. ISBN-13: 9781584776840. ISBN-10: 1584776846. Smythe sewn cloth hardcover. New. $150. * Reprint of the only edition. This book is mentioned by Holdsworth in A History of English Law, who deems it a "learned book" (XIII: 496). According to Spence's preface, his work on the translation of the Code Napoleon led him to "look attentively into the civil law of the Romans, where he found that a great proportion of the doctrines of the common law of England, even many of those which are purely artificial, were to be found in the [Corpus Juris Civilis]. This induced him to study the civil and criminal code of the Romans with some minuteness, and to compare the political and judicial institutions of modern Europe, and of our own country in particular, with those of ancient Rome, in order to discover to what extent the former might be traced from the latter, their venerable and classical origins." (v). Spence [1787-1850] was an English jurist and barrister of the Inner Temple. He was the author of several books, including an important treatise on chancery law and a translation of the Code Napoleon, which is available as a Lawbook Exchange reprint.…