i 5 o LAW 



represents a lifetime's labors and ranges over the entire 

 area of primitive Roman ideas ; COLLINET (Lille) , author of 

 " Etude historique sur le droit de Justinien " (vol. 1, 1912) ; 

 THOMAS (Toulouse), whose specialty is the papyrology of 

 Roman Law in Egypt; DESSERTEAUX (Dijon), author of 

 numerous works on technical Roman law; MONNIER 

 (Bordeaux), whose specialty is Byzantine Roman Law; 

 FLACH (Paris), whose vast authority in the historical field 

 makes him a specialist in medieval Roman law. 



Legal History. The position of France as the Western 

 haven of mingling racial streams of immigration and con- 

 quest Celtic, Romanic, Germanic has always been 

 a stimulus to the decipherer of historical riddles of law. 

 And its rich collection of records of customary law has 

 served as fertile training material for historical scholars. 

 The notable names of the first three-quarters of the 

 nineteenth century PARDESSUS, GINOULHIAC, LABOU- 

 LAYE, LAFERRIERE, GARSONNET, GIRAUD, BEUGNOT 

 occupied themselves chiefly with the critical editing of 

 these sources (on which, indeed, the greater number of 

 modern scholars are still laboring). Then came a 

 period of masters who devoted themselves to works of 

 larger scope; and this period now continues. The earlier 

 ones (but just passed off the stage) include FUSTEL DE 

 COULANGES (a contemporary of Sir Henry Maine's, 

 and almost as influential in his ideas); GLASSON (whose 

 volumes cover the legal history not only of France but 

 also of England); TARDIF (who specially worked in 

 Norman law); ESMEIN (a versatile master in many 

 fields); BEAUNE and VIOLLET (whose works have each 

 a special merit); and BRISSAUD, who was perhaps the 

 greatest modern historian of law in any country; cer- 

 tainly Maitland, B runner, and Schupfer (of Rome) 

 can alone be mentioned with him. 



