Burn, Richard, 1709-1785.
Burn's New Law Dictionary : English Law
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A New Law Dictionary, London 1792 |
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A New Law Dictionary, Dublin 1792 |
Richard Burn was both a legal writer and topographer. Born in Westmoreland, where he spent the greater part of his life, he was educated at Oxford. Burn went on to serve in a vicarage in Orton. He was also a justice of the peace, and in 1765 was appointed chancellor of the diocese of Carlisle.
Burn's New Law Dictionary was generally considered a minor work of"little value." It was edited and published posthumously by his son John Burn, who added a preface and an engraved portrait of his father to begin the book; Marvin doubts that it was ever intended for publication. A pirated one-volume Dublin edition appeared soon after the London edition. Burn did receive acclaim, however, for his 1760 work Ecclesiastical Law, which was published in at least nine subsequent editions. It was considered an important, complete treatise on ecclesiastical law and became the standard text for this subject. His Justice of the Peace and Parish Officer went through 20 editions, and he edited the 9th, 10th, and 11th editions of Blackstone's Commentaries.
Tarlton's copy of the two-volume London edition of the dictionary contain extensive handwritten margin notes. However, since both volumes were trimmed severely at the head, tail, and outer margin when they were rebound, several of these notes are not fully legible.
See John G. Marvin, Legal Bibliography, or a Thesaurus of American, English, Irish, and Scotch Law Books (Philadelphia: T. & J. W. Johnson, 1847).
Editions: London, 1792; Dublin, 1792
Bibliography
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