Ancient Curious And Famous Wills Classic Reprint

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Excerpt from Ancient, Curious and Famous Wills "Let's choose executors, and talk of wills; And yet not so, -for what can we bequeath, Save our deposed bodies to the ground?" An addition to the fifteen millions of books of which the world is now possessed demands an explanation, if not an apology. In my experience as a lecturer on the Law of Wills, and in the practical administration of estates controlled by wills, in which I have been engaged for many years, it has been a subject of surprise to me that no one in America has seriously undertaken the collection of curious and famous wills. It has occurred to me that I might discharge the duty which every lawyer owes to his profession by making such a collection. The subject is very comprehensive, and the material required has been obtained, in most instances, from the original records of Probate and Court Registers in various parts of the world, by exhaustive research in libraries at home and abroad, and by reference to magazine and newspaper files. It has been my effort to select from this collection the wills which appeared most interesting and entertaining. I recognize quite fully the wisdom of Lord Coke's remark, that "Wills, and the construction of them, do more perplex a man than any other learning; and to make a certain construction of them exceedeth jurisprudentum artem." Perplexity has likewise beset me in an attempt to classify the wills in this work and place them under convenient and appropriate headings. It must not be forgotten that while all men may make wills, and should do so, yet all men have not done so. It is a remarkable trait in human character that wills are for the most part postponed, and that many men of wealth and distinction die without them. So great a man as Abraham Lincoln left no will, though he had a considerable estate. General Grant also died intestate, but his estate was small. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Ancient, Curious, And Famous Wills This book is a result of an effort made by us towards making a contribution to the preservation and repair of original classic literature. In an attempt to preserve, improve and recreate the original content, we have worked towards: 1. Type-setting & Reformatting: The complete work has been re-designed via professional layout, formatting and type-setting tools to re-create the same edition with rich typography, graphics, high quality images, and table elements, giving our readers the feel of holding a 'fresh and newly' reprinted and/or revised edition, as opposed to other scanned & printed (Optical Character Recognition - OCR) reproductions. 2. Correction of imperfections: As the work was re-created from the scratch, therefore, it was vetted to rectify certain conventional norms with regard to typographical mistakes, hyphenations, punctuations, blurred images, missing content/pages, and/or other related subject matters, upon our consideration. Every attempt was made to rectify the imperfections related to omitted constructs in the original edition via other references. However, a few of such imperfections which could not be rectified due to intentional\unintentional omission of content in the original edition, were inherited and preserved from the original work to maintain the authenticity and construct, relevant to the work. We believe that this work holds historical, cultural and/or intellectual importance in the literary works community, therefore despite the oddities, we accounted the work for print as a part of our continuing effort towards preservation of literary work and our contribution towards the development of the society as a whole, driven by our beliefs. We are grateful to our readers for putting their faith in us and accepting our imperfections with regard to preservation of the historical content. HAPPY READING!

These wills of members of the English Royalty from William the Conqueror through Henry VII are in their original language and often have brief introductions, annotations and postscripts in English. With a Glossary and "Additional Observations and Corrections." x, 434 pp. Originally published: London: J. Nichols, 1780. "This series of miscellaneous and different wills presents us with many curious particulars. We learn from them more of the manners and private life of our illustrious ancestors, some new facts in their public history, and several new descents in their pedigrees. The prospect of death sets their lives in a new point of light." --Preface, v

A set of biographical sketches of eminent jurists from the 17th through 19th centuries, including Lord Bacon, John Selden, the Earl of Mansfield, Sir William Jones, and Lord Brougham. Intended to encourage emulation, Adams offers a series of "Great Man" portraits in the manner of Carlyle that emphasizes the outstanding moral character, determination, and diligence of his subjects and their crucial contributions to Britain. Like many Victorians, Adams feared that the professional specialization created by the growth of science and industry would eliminate the type of well-rounded personality dear to the English. This concern is evident in his choice of representative figures. He demonstrates in each case that these were men of parts with a breadth of interests that contributed to their greatness as jurists.

Excerpt from A Handbook to the Ancient Courts of Probate and Depositories of Wills I have attempted in these pages to form a calendar of all the Courts exercising Testamentary Jurisdiction prior to 1858, when their records were, by an Act of Parliament, 20 and 21 Victoria, cap. 77, transferred to the Court of Probate. The information here given is based upon the Returns of Courts empowered to grant Probates of Wills, made to Parliament, and ordered to be printed 30 May, 1828, 16 April, 1829, 26 March, 1830, and 27 February, 1832; and also upon the Index of Courts of which the Records, etc., have been transmitted to the Court of Probate; also a List of the Registries of the Court of Probate, etc., March, 1862, a work, so far as I know, only issued to the Registrars of the District Registries created by the Act of '1858. The form of this book is similar to that Index. The number of Courts noticed in this book is about 32 5. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Excerpt from A Treatise on Wills, Vol. 1 of 2 Many of the notes, especially the longer ones, Of the writer's last edition have been rewritten; and the whole subject has been brought down to the latest date practica ble. The Work now printed, English and American, it may be added, is done under the new International Copy right Law of this country. The references are uniformly to the star paging, unless the top paging is named. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.