Main Content
Summary
Author: Elmes, James
Title: A practical treatise on architectural jurisprudence; in which the constitutions, canons, laws and customs relating to the art of building, are collected from the best authorities: for the use of architects, surveyors, landlords, tenants, incumbents, churchwardens and ecclesiastical persons in general.
Publication: London, W. Benning 1827.
Price: £580
Reference: 06755
Full Description
8vo. xv+(1)+279+(1)pp. Original quarter cloth, spine repaired. Formerly the Birmingham Law Society's copy, with their bookplate.
First and only edition of Elmes's guide to the law relating to architecture and building , intended for use by architects, surveyors and so on. The book was intended both for ready reference (the second part, starting at p.67, is arranged alphabetically by topic, from abate to writs of waste, citing any relevant case law) and for a wider understanding of the history, origin and functionality of English building law. Elmes stresses its roots in Roman civil law, and also quotes relevant passages from France's Code Napoléon, implicitly criticising the current state of building law in his own country, as he had in his earlier Practical Treatise on the Law of Dilapidations, 1823.