Thomas Littleton

Lyttleton, His Treatise of Tenures, in French and English. a New Edition, Printed from the Most Ancient Copies, and Collated with the Various Readings Thomas Littleton

A landmark of early English law. Originally published: London: S. Sweet, 1841. lv, [1], 727 pp. Written during the reign of Edward IV [1442 1483], Littleton's Tenures was much admired for its learning and style. It is concerned with the doctrines of old English Common Law regarding the tenures of real estate as well as issues related to real property. This venerable work, which Coke called the "ornament of the Common Law," and the most perfect and absolute work that ever was written in any humane science, is a considered a landmark because it renounced the principles of Roman law in favor of a set of guidelines and doctrines drawn from the Year Books, and when necessary, hypothetical cases.