Texts

Sinclair's Practicks (Acrobat PDF 930KB, opens in new window)
This is a provisional test-version of Sinclair's text. It should thus not be expected to be free from errors! A definite edition of the text is forthcoming, to be published by Dr. Athol L. Murray, under the aegis of the Stair Society.

The Scottish Parliament Project
St Andrews University project creating a digital edition of the entire Acts of the pre-1707 Scottish parliament, with a parallel translation of the original Latin, French and Scots. The website gives details of the project as well as a brief history of the Scottish parliament, some images of Parliament, and some examples of legislation.

Bracton Online
Searchable online version of the classic 13th-century English law text known as Bracton after its supposed author; maintained by Harvard Law School Library. Bracton Online (N.B. this should be Bracton not Bractron).

David Seipp's Year Books Database
Searchable database of the printed Year Books, the earliest English law reports; prepared by Professor David Seipp (Boston Law School) and still in development Seipp's Yearbooks Database.

Dolezalek Scottish Legal MSS Project
A pre-print publication of parts of Scotland under the "Jus Commune", a forthcoming book by Professor Gero Dolezalek, Chair of Civil Law at the University of Aberdeen. It contains descriptions and evaluations of manuscripts of Scots legal literature 1500-1650.

Scottish Documents
The National Archives of Scotland is currently digitising the surviving records of ecclesiastical courts (kirk sessions, presbyteries, synods and the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland). These will eventually be made available online. The Scottish Documents website shows samples of the records and gives more information about the project.

Scottish Handwriting
For many people working on original early modern manuscript sources, this website, run by the National Archives of Scotland, gives advice on palaeography and diplomatic and includes some entertaining texts from Scottish court records.

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Viscount Stair

Dictionary of National Biography
The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) contains an article on Viscount Stair by J D Ford. DNB is available in reference libraries and online to subscribers.

ScotlandsPeople
Viscount Stair's is one of more than 100 wills and testaments of famous Scots (from commissary and sheriff court registers) available free of charge in digital form and in transcription on the e-commerce genealogy site of the National Archives of Scotland and General Register Office for Scotland.

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Sister societies

Selden Society (UK)
The Stair Society's sister society in England.

Selden Society (USA)
The North American branch of the Stair Society's sister society in England.

American Society for Legal History
The Stair Society's sister society in North America.

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General legal history sites

Journal of Legal History
Abstracts of articles, ordering information and contact details for this London-based publication.

Sally Hadden's Legal History Home Page
American legal history site compiled by Professor Sally Hadden at Florida State University - includes a collection of links to US legal history sites.

Legal History Links
Collection of legal history links (including other course websites) run by Bernard Hibbitts (Pittsburgh).

Legal History Project
Contains a legal history-related blog, a calendar of events, a forum, numerous interviews with legal historians and other figures, a legal history quiz and several pages of resource links.

Legal History Resources
Collection of legal history links maintained by the Tarlton Library of the University of Texas Law School.

National Archives of Scotland
The National Archives of Scotland (NAS) website has much for the legal historian, including guides for researchers using various types of legal documents (such as testaments, sasines, deeds etc) and Scottish court records (including the Court of Session, High Court criminal trials and sheriff courts).

National Library of Scotland
The National Library of Scotland is an information treasure trove of Scotland’s knowledge, history and culture, with millions of books, manuscripts and maps covering every subject.

Netserf
A collection of medieval history links, including a section on medieval law.

Robert Sutherland's personal website
The website of Robert Sutherland WS, retired Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Glasgow, containing material on Scottish legal history. Although not available on-line, Robert Sutherland's transcription of the Orr MS of Maitland's Practiques has been published by the Scottish Record Society (New Series Vol.30, 2007, ISSN 014439448).

Roman Law Resources
Ernest Metzger's site features links to many interesting legal history sites, with an emphasis on Roman Law web sites.

Scottish Archive Network
The Scottish Archive Network provides a single electronic catalogue to the holdings of more than 50 Scottish archives. the site also includes advice on research, digital images of some record types and a glossary of legal terms.

Washington & Lee School of Law Center for Law and History
The Center supports interdisciplinary study of law in its historical context and promotes research and teaching in all areas and periods of legal history. The Center's annual lecture (given by Sir John Baker in 2003) is broadcast on the Internet and archived on the Center's website.

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