MARRIAGE LAW.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Baron and Feme. A Treatise on the Common Law concerning Husbands and Wives. First edition, in an exceptionally well-preserved binding, of this oft-cited work on the legal position of women in 17th- and 18th-century England and a key summary of the social mechanisms underpinning such works as The Taming of the Shrew."Baron and Feme" refers to the legal fiction that husband and wife shared one legal personhood. The anonymous author of this treatise draws heavily on Sir Edward Coke's edition of Littleton, aiming to codify and explain family law "in all the Circumstances of Life, from the Solemnization of Marriage to the Divorce" (p. [vi]). "Although written in English, at a time when many law books were still published in Latin and law French, [it] was clearly intended for a legally trained reader" (Glover, p. 75). This copy includes extensive ink annotations in an 18th-century hand, suggesting a similar level of legal training. The annotations mainly cite other legal reference works, but they also explicate several points of law, and invoke others to challenge assertions in the text. The notes on the rear blank verso, for instance, observe that "the Wife's Portion consisting of Choses in action shall not upon ye husb's death be liable to his debts tho' ye husb: before marriage had made an adequate Jointure on her".Further editions appeared in 1719 and 1738.

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