"The Law Book"

Title"The Law Book"
Year for Search1700
AuthorsCrowley, Sir Ambrose(1658-1713)
Secondary AuthorsFlinn, M. W.
Secondary TitleThe Law Book of the Crowley Iron Works
Volume / EditionPublications of the Surtees Society, 167
Date Published[18th Century]/1957
PublisherSurtees Society
Place PublishedLondon
KeywordsEnglish author, Male author
Annotation

A very odd book that presents one hundred and thirteen "laws" for the operation of the author's iron works. It is borderline as a utopia but is included because it details all the daily activities of the workers in a large factory including "welfare services" and "poor relief".  See the discussion in J.C. Davis, Utopia and the Ideal Society: A Study of English Utopian Writing 1516-1700 (Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1981), 351-55.

Additional Publishers

The original manuscript in 307 folios, which is incomplete, is in the British Library Add. Ms. 34,555.

Info Notes

The editor says that the first laws may have predated 1700 and a few were added after 1800.

Holding Institutions

L

Author Note

(1658-1713)

Full Text

[18th Century] Crowley, Sir Ambrose (1658-1713). “The Law Book.” Abbreviated in The Law Book of the Crowley Iron Works. Ed. M.W. Flinn. Publications of the Surtees Society, 167 (London, 1957). The original manuscript in 307 folios, which is incomplete, is in the British Library Add. Ms. 34,555. The editor says that the first laws may have predated 1700 and a few were added after 1800.

A very odd book that presents one hundred and thirteen “laws” for the operation of the author’s iron works. It is borderline as a utopia but is included because it details all the daily activities of the workers in a large factory including “welfare services” and “poor relief”. See the discussion in J.C. Davis, Utopia and the Ideal Society: A Study of English Utopian Writing 1516-1700 (Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 1981), 351-55.