Litletons Tenures

Thomas Littleton

Richardum Tottele (Tottell; Tottyl; Tottel), 1557

[Treatise on Tenures : A foundational work in English Property Law. First English Textbook on Property Law: Early English Printing]  12mo ff. (i), 173, 1.  Law French, printed in gothic type. Modern three-quarter brown calf over marbled boards. Red leather spine label, stamped in blind and in gilt.  Text leaves mounted on stubs.  Contemporary gift inscription on title-page: "Ex dono Ro: Giles tertio January 1566."  Contemporary signature, "S. Weldon."  Beale T-21; ESTC S4753.  

  Sir Thomas Littleton's classic work on English property law.  Tenures was first published in 1481. It was written in Law French (Anglo-Norman used in English courts until the 18th century).  Littleton deals exclusively with English law, rather than Roman law.  He writes about the rights of freeholders and the rights of tenants v. inheritors.  "The book is written on a definite system, and is the first attempt at a scientific classification of rights over land.  Littleton’s method is to begin with a definition, usually clearly and briefly expressed, of the class of rights with which he is dealing. He then proceeds to illustrate the various characteristics and incidents of the class by stating particular instances, some of which refer to decisions which had actually occurred, but more commonly they are hypothetical cases put by way of illustration of his principles. He occasionally refers to reported cases. His book is thus much more than a mere digest of judicial decisions; to some extent he pursues the method which gave to Roman law its breadth and consistency of principle. In Roman law this result was attained through the practice of putting to jurisconsults hypothetical cases to be solved by them. Littleton, in like manner, is constantly stating and solving by reference to principles of law cases which may or may not have occurred in actual practice." - Chisholm, 793 p.  Littleton's classifications were adopted by Matthew Hale and William Blackstone.  It was strongly praised by Edward Coke and incorporated in his the first part of his Institutes of the Law of England.  Littleton's Treatise "proved to be the most successful law book ever written in England." - ODNB.  (Early English Law. Medieval Property Law.)