From John Jay's Personal Library

We wish to highlight two incredible rare books that were owned by John Jay himself in his personal library. This is John Jay’s signed edition of the A Continuation of the Practical Register, In Two Parts. Wherein are contained Many Rules of Court, and also Practical Cases. The work was written by John Lilly and printed in 1710 in two volumes. Across the title pages of both books are Jay’s ownership signatures “John Jay,” as well as the date “1771,” possibly indicating when the volumes were added to Jay’s personal library. John Jay’s inked notations can be found along the margins. The volumes were later donated by John Jay's son, Peter Augustus Jay, to the library of the New York Law Institute, the oldest circulating law library in New York City. 

The work was written as a law dictionary that provided British attorneys and clerks with an alphabetical list of actions, legal documents, and legal terms with definitions and references to related statutes and cases. Based on his inscribed date of 1771, Jay acquired these volumes a few years after he gained admission to the bar in 1768.

Similarly, we also offer this signed edition of the The Compleat Court Keeper; or, Land-Steward’s Assistant. The book is a second edition by Giles Jacob, printed in 1715. Along the top of the title page, in black ink, is “John Jay — 1790.” From the inscribed date we infer that the book was added to his personal library shortly after Jay became the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in October 1789. The book was also later donated to the library of the New York Law Institute. 

The Compleat Court Keeper served as a guide to the history and functioning of courts leet and courts baron, types of manorial courts that existed in feudal England. These courts handled certain civil matters that fell under the authority of the local lord, oftentimes with a steward acting on behalf of the lord of the manor. Jay could have taken inspiration from the text for the legal framework of the newly formed United States.

Both works are informative in their own right, but truly encaptivating for their ownership marks and how Jay would have referenced them in the building of the country. You’ll find both works and more on our website.