The Spectacled Avenger’s Reading List, 2019

At the beginning of every year, I post the list of books read during the previous year. The fact that I got most of the way through January without having done so is rather emblematic of the kind of year 2019 was for me. I spent half of it working two full-time and demanding jobs. Between that and a couple of personal crises, I was left with little time or mental energy to keep up this blog. I hope to be a better blogger in 2020, but I don’t feel I can securely guarantee that.

Interestingly, despite the foregoing, I still managed to read 75 books in 2019, which is around the average. So I somehow found time to read, but not to blog. And I notice that last year, I didn’t publish my reading list until February 8. So I suppose I shouldn’t feel too bad…

Looking back on patterns in the reading, two in particular stand out: English legal history (Fleta, Glanvill, Fortescue, Coke, Hale, Simpson), and Parliamentary law and history (Hatsell, Elsynge, Jefferson). Otherwise, the only other pattern is the usual one: lots of 17th- and 18th-century English literature.

As with every other year, books I particularly enjoy are in bold. If a book appears twice, it’s because I read it twice.

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ALLESTREE, Richard [?]. The Government of the Tongue. Oxford, 1675.

ANONYMOUS. Fleta (Vol. II: Prologue, Book I and Book II). H. G. Richardson and G. O. Sayles (eds.). London: Selden Society, 1955.

ANONYMOUS. Fleta (Vol. III: Book III and Book IV). H. G. Richardson and G. O. Sayles (trans.). London: Selden Society, 1972.

ANONYMOUS. Fleta (Vol. IV: Book V and Book VI). G. O. Sayles (ed.). London: Selden Society, 1983.

BACON, Francis. The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh. Jerry Weinberger (ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996.

BALDWIN, James Fosdick. The King’s Council. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1969.

BOLINGBROKE, Henry St. John, Viscount. The Works (Vol. I). David Mallet (ed.). London, 1754 (facsimile, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1968).

BOLINGBROKE, Henry St. John, Viscount. The Works (Vol. II). David Mallet (ed.). London, 1754 (facsimile, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1968).

BOLINGBROKE, Henry St. John, Viscount. The Works (Vol. III). David Mallet (ed.). London, 1754 (facsimile, Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1968).

BOSWELL, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson (Vol. I). Rodney Shewan (ed.). London: Folio Society, 1993.

BOSWELL, James. The Life of Samuel Johnson (Vol. II). Rodney Shewan (ed.). London: Folio Society, 1993.

BRONTË, Emily. Wuthering Heights. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999.

BROWN, John. An Estimate of the Manners and Principles of the Times and Other Writings. David Womersley (ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2019.

BUCKINGHAM, George Villiers, 2nd Duke of. The Rehearsal. D. E. L. Crane (ed.). Durham, UK: University of Durham Press, 1976.

CAMDEN, William. Remains concerning Britain. Thomas Moule (ed.). London: John Russell Smith, 1870.

CHRIMES, S. B. An Introduction to the Administrative History of Mediaeval England. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1952.

CLAUSEWITZ, Carl von. On War. Michael Howard and Peter Paret (eds.). New York: Everyman’s Library, 1993.

COKE, Sir Edward. The Third Part of the Institutes of the Laws of England. London: W. Clarke and Sons, 1817 (facsimile, Clark, NJ: Lawbook Exchange, 2012).

COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor. Biographia Literaria (Vol. I). London: Rest Fenner, 1817 (facsimile, Menston, UK: Scolar Press, 1971).

COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor. Biographia Literaria (Vol. II). London: Rest Fenner, 1817 (facsimile, Menston, UK: Scolar Press, 1971).

COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor. Poems. John Beer (ed.). New York: Everyman’s Library, 1999.

CONFUCIUS. The Analects. Arthur Waley (trans.). New York: Everyman’s Library, 2000.

CONGREVE, William. The Comedies of William Congreve. Anthony G. Henderson (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

COWLEY, Abraham. The Mistress with Other Select Poems of Abraham Cowley 1618-1667. John Sparrow (ed.). London: The Nonesuch Press, 1926.

DICEY, A. V. Lectures on the Relation between Law and Public Opinion in England during the Nineteenth Century (2nd edition). London: Macmillan and Co., 1914.

DONNE, John. Essays in Divinity. Evelyn M. Simpson (ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1967.

ELSYNGE, Henry. The Manner of Holding Parliaments in England. London: Thomas Payne, 1768 (facsimile, Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1971).

FARTHING, John. Freedom Wears a Crown. Toronto: Kingswood House, 1957.

FILMER, Robert. Patriarcha and Other Writings. Johann P. Sommerville (ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

FORTESCUE, Sir John. A Learned Commendation of the Politique Lawes of England. Robert Mulcaster (trans.). London: Richard Tottel, 1567 (facsimile, Amsterdam: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1969).

FORTESCUE, Sir John. The Governance of England. Charles Plummer (ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1926.

GAY, John. Fables (Vol. I, 5th edition). London: J. and R. Tonson and J. Watts, 1737.

GAY, John. Fables (Vol. II, 3rd edition). London: J. and P. Knapton and T. Cox, 1747.

GLANVILL, Ranulf de [?]. The Treatise on the Laws and Customs of the Realm of England Commonly Called Glanvill. G. D. G. Hall (trans.). London: Nelson, 1965.

GODWIN, William. Enquiry concerning Political Justice (Vol. II). London: G. G. and J. Robinson, 1798 (facsimile, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1969).

HALE, Sir Matthew. The Prerogatives of the King. D. E. C. Yale (ed.). London: Selden Society, 1976.

HAMILTON, Alexander, James MADISON, and John JAY. The Federalist, or The New Constitution. Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 1979.

HATSELL, John. Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons (Vol. I). London: Luke Hansard, 1818 (facsimile, Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1971).

HATSELL, John. Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons (Vol. II). London: Luke Hansard, 1818 (facsimile, Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1971).

HATSELL, John. Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons (Vol. III). London: Luke Hansard, 1818 (facsimile, Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1971).

HATSELL, John. Precedents of Proceedings in the House of Commons (Vol. IV). London: Luke Hansard, 1818 (facsimile, Shannon, Ireland: Irish University Press, 1971).

HOBBES, Thomas. Behemoth. Paul Seaward (ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2010.

HOCHSCHILD, Adam. Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empire’s Slaves. Boston: Mariner Books, 2006.

HODGSON, Robert. The Life of the Right Reverend Beilby Porteus, D.D. Late Bishop of London. London: T. Cadell and W. Davies, 1811.

HORACE. A Poetical Translation of the Works of Horace (Vol. III). Philip Francis (trans.). London: W. Strahan, J. Rivington, et al., 1778.

JEFFERSON, Thomas. Jefferson’s Parliamentary Writings (The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Second Series). Wilbur Samuel Howell (ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1988.

KAMES, Henry Home, Lord. Historical Law-Tracts. James A. Harris (ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 2019.

KRAUT, Richard. What is Good and Why: The Ethics of Well-Being. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007.

MANTHORPE, Jonathan. Claws of the Panda: Beijing’s Campaign of Influence and Intimidation in Canada. Toronto, ON: Cormorant Books, 2019.

McKAY, Richard A. Patient Zero and the Making of the AIDS Epidemic. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.

MILL, John Stuart. Collected Works (Vol. XIX: Essays on Politics and Society). J. M. Robson (ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977.

MILTON, John. Paradise Lost. Barbara K. Lewalski (ed.). Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.

MOSSMAN, Mary Jane and Philip GIRARD. Property Law: Cases and Commentary (3rd edition). Toronto: Emond Montgomery, 2014.

MURPHY, Arthur. The Life of David Garrick, Esq. (Vol. I). London: J. Wright, 1801.

MURPHY, Arthur. The Life of David Garrick, Esq. (Vol. II). London: J. Wright, 1801.

NAGEL, Ernest and James R. NEWMAN. Gödel’s Proof. New York: New York University Press, 1986.

NEAVE, Edwin H. Financial Systems: Principles and Organisation. London: Routledge, 1998.

NEDHAM, Marchamont. The Excellencie of a Free-State. Blair Worden (ed.). Indianapolis: Liberty Fund, 2011.

PEPYS, Samuel. The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Vol. IV: 1663). Robert Latham and William Matthews (eds.). London: G. Bell and Sons, 1971.

PLATT, Colin. King Death: The Black Death and its Aftermath in Late-Medieval England. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2001.

RICHARDSON, Samuel. Selected Letters of Samuel Richardson. John Carroll (ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1964.

SAINT-ÉVREMOND, Charles de. The Works of Monsieur de Mr. St. Evremond (Vol. I). Pierre des Maizeaux (trans.). London: J. and J. Knapton, J. Darby, et al., 1728.

SHAFTESBURY, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of. Soliloquy: or, Advice to an Author. London: J. Morphew, 1710.

SHAFTESBURY, Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of. An Inquiry concerning Virtue, in Two Discourses. London: A. Bell et al., 1699 (facsimile, Delmar, NY: Scholars’ Facsimiles and Reprints, 1991).

SHAFTESBURY, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of. A Notion of the Historical Draught or Tablature of the Judgment of Hercules. London: A. Baldwin, 1713.

SHAFTESBURY, Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7rd Earl of. Speeches of the Earl of Shaftesbury, K. G., upon Subjects Having Relation Chiefly to the Claims and Interests of the Labouring Class. London: Chapman and Hall, 1868 (facsimile, Shannon: Irish University Press, 1971).

SIMPSON, A. W. Brian. Leading Cases in the Common Law. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995.

SWIFT, Jonathan. The Examiner (2nd edition). London: Francis Cogan, 1730 (facsimile, New York: AMS Press 1967).

SWIFT, Jonathan. Political Tracts 1713-1719 (Prose Works, Vol. VIII). Herbert Davis and Irvin Ehrenpreis (eds.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1953.

TAYLOR, Jeremy. The Whole Works of… Jeremy Taylor (Vol. V). London: Longman, Orme, Brown, et al., 1839.

TEY, Josephine. The Daughter of Time. New York: Scribner, 1995.

TWAIN, Mark. Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. New York: Everyman’s Library, 1991.

WILLIAMS, Graeme, QC. A Short Book of Bad Judges. London: Wildy, Simmonds and Hill, 2013.

WODEHOUSE, P. G. The Code of the Woosters. New York: Everyman’s Library, 2000.

WODEHOUSE, P. G. Uncle Fred in the Springtime. New York: W. W. Norton, 1997.