Farfel Notebook 07: Leaves 469-498

485 P. J. Pirages L.A. Bookfair Feb. '98 $125

France - MSS on vellum - 15th C (late)

Written in French, lettre batarde, single column, 32 lines, brown ink, ruled in red. Capitals touched with yellow. 2+4 line initials alternating in red + blue, each with red or brown penwork. 26x19cm. (19.1x13.3 cm)

A legal compendium related to ships, giving jedgements in cases involving rules of navigation.

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486 Dawson's Los Angeles Feb. '98 $20.00

English legal document (indenture) on vellum (parchment) - MSS in Latin. May 11, 1716

Final concord made at Westminster between John Bessett and Eleanor Johnson, widow, concerning lands in Newchurch, Woodchurch, and Kenardington, Kent. -George I, 1714-27, King of England. -44 X 12 cm., uneven border, (c3folds?), 8 lines, written in brown ink, English court hand - a Gothic handwriting used in English legal documents.

-Conveyance - a general term for the transfer of real property. John = Johannes Eleanor = Elianora widow = viuda 9 = us, ous, os ÷ = est (c~t?) = and

From the bastard hand of the late 14th C there developed in England 2 distinct varieties of Gothic script 1) a small Court Hand - came into being early in the 15th C + gave rise a century later to English Secretary (Old English) 2) Several large Special Hands - emerged late in the 15th C + were restricted to use for certain sections of public + private business (Legal, Chancery etc.) These special hands, all Court hands are peculiar to England.

-As the use of Latin for legal transactions almost entirely How to Read Old Documents superseded the Normal-French language after the reign of Edward III (1327-1377) very few old deeds are met with in the latter language. - Late 17th C. or early 18th C - often written in English. - About the end of the 15th C, English began to be used for law business transactions more + more. Latin, like Norman-French had had its day + was dying out. Finally by George III's Act of Parliament the native language was ordered to be used for law work.

law deeds 1) deed-poll -square piece of parchment, made by 1 person such as a will or bond. 2) indenture - the work of several parties, such as marriage settlements + 2 sales or transfers of land - so called, from the fact that its upper edge was vandy ked or indented, a very secure pub primative method of testing authenticity - each party had a copy. These duplicates were written on a single strip of parchment, merely cut asunder afterwwards, through a word written between the 2 copies, such as 'chirographum' so that when required to be produced as evidence the 2 divided portions + words would fit each other exactly. A very common form of deed, met with among title deeds is the 'Fine' technically so called from its opening sentence: 'Hic est finalis concordia facta in cunia Domni Regis'; the sovereigh's name follows with the year of accession, after which are the names of the buyer + seller of the property, a full description of the amount of acreage, tenements etc. After warranting the whole for life to its purchaser, the deed concludes with the sum of money paid for the property; this is written in woeds, not figures. The 'Fines' are narrow strips of parchment, 2 in number. A Fine was indited in court hand. Sale by fine ie of very ancient date, probably an old Saxon custom. A 'fine' is so called