A. W. & C. Barsby:   Legal Research and Publishing

Tenures of Land and Customs of Manors

First published in 1679, Tenures of Land and Customs and Manors, by Thomas Blount, set out to record the terms on which land had been held, under the feudal system, and associated manorial customs.  Blount's aim was to produce a book which was both instructive and amusing: medieval ways of life seemed humorous to people of the sevententh century, hence the name by which the book is often known - "Blount's Jocular Tenures".  See title page of first edition.
The book was a lasting success, and further editions were published in 1715, 1784 and 1874.  Though the name "Blount's Jocular Tenures" is still remembered, the book, as it increased in size, became less a collection of historical oddities and more a rich source of information about land tenure and manorial custom from medieval times. The text is full of fascinating detail about people and places and the connection between them. The terms on which land was held, often in the original Latin, are in many cases set out in footnotes.  
Our 5th edition merges the text of the 4th edition with an extensive supplement published in 1909 by the same editor (W. Carew Hazlitt).  Both were published in very small numbers - 350 for the 1874 edition and only 50 for the 1909 supplement - and are thus very difficult to obtain nowadays. The full and helpful Glossary is included, and the book has been completely re-indexed.   Fascinating in its own right, the book is also a classic work of historical reference. Tenures of Land and Customs of Manors, by W. Carew Hazlitt.  (5th ed.) 1999.  527 pp.  ISBN 0 9521625 4 7. £55 hardback.  Dust jacket by Chris Higson.  Sample page. Link to page with order form.
The index to the book is reproduced below. This gives an idea of the extent of coverage of the book, and enables those interested to check whether particular people, places or other subjects are mentioned.  The full text is held electronically, and we are happy to add to the Index on request. Please let us know by e-mail if you would like a search done for names or words not included in the index:  we will be happy to include the result here in a Supplementary Index. 
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