Georgetown Law
Georgetown Law Library

English Legal History Research Guide

Contents of this guide include print, micro-media and Internet resources available to facilitate research in legal history at Georgetown Law.

The Jury

Listed here are just a few of the primary and secondary commentaries on the history of the jury in England, and the United States. A separate, more in-depth guide, Legal History: Anglo-American Juries Research Guide.

  • Abramson, Jeffrey. We, the Jury: The Jury System and the Ideal of Democracy. New York: BasicBooks, 1994. KF8972 .A727 1994
  • Bentham, Jeremy. The Elements of the Art of Packing As Applied to Special Juries. New York: Garland Pub., 1978. Reprint of the 1821 edition: London: E. Wilson. KD7540 .B46 1978r
  • Cairns, John W. & Grant McLeod, eds. The Dearest Birth Right of the People of England: The Jury in the History of the Common Law. Oxford: Hart Pub., 2002. KD8400 .D3 2002
  • Cockburn, J.S. and Thomas A. Green. Twelve Good Men and True: The Criminal Trial Jury in England, 1200-1800. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988. KD8400 .A75 T94 1988
  • Duncombe, Giles. [Trials] Tryals Per Pais: Or, the Law of England Concerning Juries by Nisi Prius, &c. 3rd ed. London: John Walthoe, 1695. KD7540 .D85 1695 Octavo
    • Special Collections also has the 4th London edition (1702) [KD7540 .D85 1702] and the 9th Dublin edition (1793) [KD7540 .D85 1793 Quarto]. International Media also has the 1666 edition in microfiche.
    • Available online (6th London edition).
  • Green, Thomas A. Verdict According to Conscience: Perspectives on the English Criminal Trial Jury, 1200-1800. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985. KD8400 .G73 1985
  • Hawles, John. The English-Mans Right: A Dialogue Between a Barrister at Law and a Jury-Man, Plainly Setting Forth: I. The Antiquity, II. The Excellent Designed Use, III. The Office and Just Priviledges of Juries, by the Laws of England. London: For Richard Janeway, 1680.KD7540 .H39 1680 Octavo
    • Special Collections also has the 1798 American edition: Philadelphia: Alexander Brodie [KD7540 .H39 1798 Quarto]. International Media also has the 1680 edition onmicrofiche.
  • Kalven, Harry, Jr. & Hans Zeisel. The American Jury. Boston: Little, Brown, 1966. KF9680 .K34 1966
    • The result of a study of the American jury system undertaken at the University of Chicago Law School. Four copies are available in the Library. 2 copies of the 1971 edition from the University of Chicago Press are also available in the Library [KF9680 .K341 1971].
  • Morgan, John. Essays Upon I. The Law of Evidence. II. New Trials. III. Special Verdicts. IV. Trials at Bar. And V. Repleaders. 3 vols. London: J. Johnson, 1789. KD8362 .M6 1789 Quarto
  • Oldham, James. Trial By Jury: The Seventh Amendment and Anglo-American Special Juries.New York: New York University Press, 2006. KF8972 .O415 2006
  • Schioppa, Antonio Padoa, ed., The Trial Jury in England, France, Germany, 1700-1900. Berlin: Duncker & Humblot, 1987. KJC9455 .T75 1987
    • Includes: John H. Langbein, "The English Criminal Trial Jury on the Eve of the French Revolution," and Thomas A. Green, "The English Criminal Trial Jury and the Law-Finding Traditions on the Eve of the French Revolution."
  • Spooner, Lysander. An Essay on the Trial by Jury. New York: DaCapo Press, 1971. Reprint of the 1852 edition. K2292 .S65
  • Towers, Joseph. An Enquiry and Observations on the Rights and Duty of Juries. New York: Garland Pub., 1978. Reprint of: Observations on the Rights and Duty of Juries, in Trials for Libels. 2nd ed. London: J. Debrett, 1784. KD7540 .T68 1978
    • Special Collections has the original 1784 edition [M-638], the 1785 edition [S-1496] and the 1792 London edition [KD7540 .T68 1792 Quarto].
  • Wigmore, John Henry, comp. The Principles of Judicial Proof as Given by Logic, Psychology, and General Experience, and Illustrated in Judicial Trials. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1913.KF8935 .W55 1913