On 20 April 2023, the University of Glasgow hosted a splendid event to mark the publication by Oxford University Press of Stephen Bogle’s new book, Contract before the Enlightenment: The Ideas of James Dalrymple, Viscount Stair, 1619-1695, in the Oxford Legal History Series, coedited by Joshua Getzler. The book is excellent, clearly written and very stimulating, although for the sake of transparency I should add that I was one of the supervisors of the thesis on which it is based. The book, however, is far developed beyond the doctoral dissertation. Purchase details can be found here. It is one of the most important books t eb published recently on the history of Scots law as well as of the law of contract.
The event started with lunch, before there were a series of papers devoted to aspects of the new book, the speakers were Professors Adelyn Wilson, John Ford, Hector Macqueen, and Catharine MacMillan. It was a quite extraordinarily beautiful Spring day in the dramatic settings of the University of Glasgow. The event finished with a reception and a dinner.
Dr Bogle can describe his book better than I, and there is a clear account of his aims in a Linked-In entry here. There is a discount code for purchasers.
Finally, the book has a most handsome dust-jacket.
