New acquisition: Brownlow's Entries

We recently acquired a 1693 edition--the first in Latin--of A Book of Entries, from Richard Brownlow (1553-1638), chief protonotary of the court of common pleas. This was a lucrative and important clerical office during a booming time for that court. This work is a compilation of precedents or forms for plea roll entries, derived from Brownlow's meticulously maintained records. Originally published in English in 1653 (presumably in line with Cromwell's dictate that law books be published in English instead of Latin or Law French), the work is arranged alphabetically by subject and provides specific references to the court records, most of which date from c.1600–1615.

The book was published in English several times during the 17th century before being published for the first time in the original Latin in 1693. The publisher's note to the Reader states "You have here, Reader, Return'd to their Original Language, after a long and unhappy Transmigration, the Presidents of the Great Brownlow, whose Name stamps them Current, and renders Impertinent all other Recommendations."

Much of the information in this post comes from Christopher W. Brooks, ‘Brownlow, Richard (1553–1638)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/3715, accessed 10 Dec 2012].