TheYear Books are the earliestlaw reports of England. This name for the later collections of these reports is of modern origin.
Substantial numbers of manuscripts circulated during theLate Middle Ages, containing reports of pleas heard before the Common Bench. In the sixteenth century versions of this material appeared in print form. These publications constituted the earliestlegal precedents of thecommon law. They are extant in a continuous series from 1268 to 1535, covering the reigns of KingEdward I toHenry VIII. The language of the original manuscripts and editions was eitherLatin orLaw French.[1] Maitland and others have considered that the medieval manuscripts were compiled by law students, rather than being officially sanctioned accounts of court proceedings.
The best-known printed version is the so-called "Vulgate" edition, which appeared in a series of volumes between 1678 and 1680, and which became the standard edition consulted by practisinglawyers. More recent editions for the use of lawyers and historians have been made by theSelden Society.[2] Traditionally, they have been divided into eleven separate series:
A number ofabridgements of the Year Books were compiled and circulated by various editors, who sought to excerpt leading cases and categorise them by subject. The first abridgment was made byNicholas Statham,Baron of the Exchequer underEdward IV, in around 1470.[4]
The last year for which a yearbook was printed was 1535. Thereafter printed law reports became more various. The earliest such reports are called thenominate reports; their original publications were named after the court reporter who compiled and edited them. SirEdward Coke was one important early jurist who published a series of court reports during his tenure aschief justice of theCourt of Common Pleas.[5]