Jamail Center for Legal Research
Tarlton Law Library

The Law-French Dictionary.

[Anon.] The Law-French Dictionary : English Law

This work was a real pioneer, and a valuable addition to legal literature, but was considered far from perfect: in fact, Winfield characterized it as "an unscientific, slovenly, inaccurate affair." It was, however, one of the first attempts to aid lawyers in the translation of documents. It contains a Law-French English dictionary for translating old deeds and Year Books, followed by an English Latin dictionary for writing pleadings. Its writer wished, as he states in the preface, to create a work "for the use and ease of all young students in the common law." The Latin or "Pleader's Dictionary" is by far the larger part of the work; by contrast, the Law-French section is cursory and short, deemed quite inadequate by contemporary readers. While most of the basic definitions are accurate, the selection of words was peculiar, including dubiously French words like "bigotizing," "gafoldgyld," and "shovellers."

See Percy H. Winfield, The Chief Sources of English Legal History (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1925).

Bibliography

1. THE LAW-FRENCH DICTIONARY ALPHABETICALLY DIGESTED : VERY USEFUL FOR ALL YOUNG STUDENTS IN THE COMMON LAWS OF ENGLAND... TO WHICH IS ADDED, THE LAW-LATIN DICTIONARY. 2nd ed. [London] In the Savoy : Printed by Eliz. Nutt and R. Gosling (assigns of E. Sayer) for D. Brown, J. Walthoe [etc.], 1718. CALL # Great Britain 03 L41
   
   

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