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Secondary sourceBook1628

Institutes of the Lawes of England

Edward Coke · 1628

Sir Edward Coke's legal treatises, whose second part explains and reinterprets Magna Carta clause by clause.

Coke's commentary on Magna Carta shaped how later generations, including American founders, read and used the charter.

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Title page of Edward Coke's 1628 book The First Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England, set within an ornate woodcut border with the title, author line, Latin epigraphs, London imprint, and the date Anno 1628.
Edward Coke, The First Part of the Institutes of the Lawes of England, London, 1628.

About this source

What it is

The Institutes of the Lawes of England is a series of legal treatises by Sir Edward Coke, published in stages between 1628 and 1644. Its Second Part is a detailed commentary on ancient statutes, particularly Magna Carta. The title page shown here is from the First Part, printed in London in 1628.

Why it matters

Coke's commentary reshaped how Magna Carta was understood, turning it into a powerful argument against unchecked royal power. His Institutes were later cited heavily by American legal thinkers, including Thomas Jefferson, and influenced the development of the common law in both Britain and the American colonies, as well as being cited in many later Supreme Court cases.

Look closer

  • Why might a lawyer writing centuries after 1215 have so much influence over how Magna Carta was understood?
  • What does the elaborate title page, full of Latin quotations, tell you about who Coke expected to read this book?
  • How can a later commentary change the meaning given to an old document, rather than just explaining it?

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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