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Secondary sourceBook1772

An Historical Treatise on Feudal Law (1772)

Francis Stoughton Sullivan · 1772

The title page of the first Irish edition of Francis Stoughton Sullivan's treatise on feudal law and the laws of England, with a commentary on Magna Charta. It is a later study of the charter.

A later Irish study of Magna Carta, showing how the charter was taught and explained to students in the eighteenth century.

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Title page of an 1772 book: handwritten signature at top, then printed title 'An Historical Treatise on Feudal Law, and the Constitution and Laws of England; with a Commentary on Magna Charta' by Francis Stoughton Sullivan, published in Dublin by Thomas Ewing, MDCCLXXII.
Francis Stoughton Sullivan, An Historical Treatise on the Feudal Law, first Irish edition, Dublin, 1772. Title page.

About this source

What it is

This is the title page of An Historical Treatise on the Feudal Law, and the Constitution and Laws of England, by Francis Stoughton Sullivan. It is the first Irish edition, published in Dublin by Thomas Ewing in 1772. The title says the book includes a commentary on Magna Charta and lectures read at the University of Dublin. Sullivan had been royal professor of the common law there and died in 1766.

Why it matters

The treatise was written long after the charter was sealed in 1215. It shows how a university lawyer in Dublin explained the charter and the feudal roots of English law to his students and readers. The title page's handwritten signature at the top is a sign that a real owner once held this copy.

Look closer

  • Which words on the title page show that the book was based on lectures, and why would that matter for its readers?
  • What does the handwritten signature tell you about who owned this copy?
  • What does a book about feudal law leave out about the people who lived under those laws?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Magna Carta on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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