Account of the Most Important Public Records of Great Britain, and the Publications of the Record Commissioners Together With Other Miscellaneous, Historical, and Antiquarian Information

9781584773900

1584773901

Cooper, C[harles] Purton. An Account of the Most Important Public Records of Great Britain, and the Publications of the Record Commissioners: Together With Other Miscellaneous, Historical, and Antiquarian Information. Compiled From Various Printed Books and Manuscripts. London: Baldwin and Cradock, 1832. Two Volumes. Reprinted 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-390-1. Cloth. $225. * Cooper [1793-1873] was a distinguished lawyer and antiquarian. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquities and a corresponding member of the royal academies of Lisbon, Munich, Berlin and Brussels. He was appointed by the Public Records Commission to locate all significant state records in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, describe their physical condition and summarize their contents. This extraordinary body of material includes such landmarks as The Statutes of the Realm, The Exon Domesday and the Red Book of the Exchequer. Cooper fulfilled this daunting task with enviable skill. What is more, he added detailed annotations that discuss the significance, reception history, provenance and other notable features of each record. Published more than 170 years ago, this study remains an incomparable guide.