The Transmission and Use of the Collected Legal Decisions of Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Scotland

Abstract This article examines the textual transmission of the collected legal decisions (or practicks) of the sixteenth-century Scottish judge, Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington. It applies the method of stemmatology to the twenty extant manuscript texts to reveal their interrelationships and the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLibrary Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 325 - 359
Main Author Wilson, Adelyn L M
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Oxford University Press 01.09.2018
Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
Subjects
16th century
17th century
Court decisions
Legal studies
Maitland, Richard
Scotland
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Summary:Abstract This article examines the textual transmission of the collected legal decisions (or practicks) of the sixteenth-century Scottish judge, Sir Richard Maitland of Lethington. It applies the method of stemmatology to the twenty extant manuscript texts to reveal their interrelationships and the manner of the text's transmission. It also shows how the copies’ owners amended the text, which in turn reveals both their interests in and use of it. Finally, it shows that the significant and deliberate amendments to a copy of the text by one owner, compounded by problems in the transmission of one branch of the text descended from his copy, entirely changed contemporary perceptions of the collection.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
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content type line 14
ISSN:0024-2160
1744-8581
DOI:10.1093/library/19.3.325