A Compendious And Comprehensive Law Dictionary: Elucidating the Terms, And General Principles of Law And Equity

Williams, Thomas Walter. A Compendious and Comprehensive Law Dictionary; Elucidating the Terms, and General Principles of Law and Equity. London: Gale and Fenner, 1816. Unpaginated [1022] pp. Reprinted 2006 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. With New Introduction by Bryan A. Garner. ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-680-2.

ISBN-10: 1-58477-680-3. Cloth. $125. * Reprint of the only edition of an uncommon dictionary. One of several English dictionaries published in the early nineteenth century, Williams' dictionary is notable for its physical size and broad scope. Williams noted that his aim was to include more words and shorter definitions by omitting the extraneous detail that distinguished the work of his predecessors (and, presumably, his competitors).

Williams [1763-1833] was a barrister of the Inner Temple and was called to the bar, but he didn't have success as a pleader. He was known instead for his writings. In addition to his dictionary, he wrote manuals justices of the peace, compiled abridgments and digests and edited an edition of William Sheppard's The Precedent of Precedents.