An Historical Sketch of the Law of Copyright; with Remarks on Sergeant Talfourd's Bill, And an Appendix of the Copyright Laws of Foreign Countries

Lowndes, John J.
An Historical Sketch of the Law of Copyright; with Remarks on Sergeant Talfourd's Bill, And an Appendix of the Copyright Laws of Foreign Countries. London: Saunders and Benning, 1840. xviii, viii, 134 pp. Reprinted 2008 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. With a new Introduction by Ronan Deazley, Reader, Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham. ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-912-4. ISBN-10: 1-58477-912-8. Cloth. $125.

* Reprint of the first edition. This treatise appeared during the formative years of modern English copyright law. In 1847 Marvin's Legal Bibliography said that "Mr. Lowndes' sketch, contains many interesting facts relative to the small beginnings and early struggles of the press. He has collected a valuable mass of historical information pertaining to the subject, that will be read with interest and profit by all concerned in this branch of learning" (477). It stands today as one of the early landmarks in the field with Montefiore's The Law of Copyright (1802) and Maugham's Treatise on the Laws of Literary Property (1828), which are also available as Lawbook Exchange reprints: Marvin, Legal Bibliography (1847) 477.