This book, first published in 1946, provides a summary account, historical and descriptive, which is full enough to be useful for reference and information, and at the same time to bring out the true significance of the collections of the British Museum Library and of the tale of their gathering.

This volume provides an interdisciplinary approach to legal history, utilizing law, linguistics, cultural anthropology and social history to document and analyze the slow but steady growth of the English common law from Anglo-Saxon times to the 19th century.

Includes articles on issues of worldwide anthropological interest.