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10 Roman Legal Trad. 1 (2014)

handle is hein.journals/rltrad10 and id is 1 raw text is: The Enigma of Samuel Parsons Scott

Timothy G. Kearley*
Abstract - Samuel Parsons Scott (1846-1929) single-handedly
translated into English the Corpus Juris Civilis, the Visigothic
Code, and the Siete Partidas. The last of these was very well re-
ceived and not long ago reprinted in a new edition. The trans-
lation of the Corpus Juris Civilis, published as The Civil Law
(1932), was criticized strongly but has been consulted frequently
because, until recently, it contained the only published English
translation of Justinian's Code. Almost nothing has been known
about Scott himself, as he was an independent scholar who lived
and worked in the small American town of Hillsboro, Ohio. This
article uses information obtained from Hillsboro newspapers, local
histories, probate court records, and the catalog of Scott's personal
library, to describe his life and the details of his work. It proposes
an explanation for why he went from being a successful small-
town business man, who wrote about history and his travels as an
avocation, to being a recluse who devoted his last years to trans-
lating ancient laws. The article's analysis of Scott and his library
also suggests some possible explanations for the flaws in his
translation of the Justinianic Corpus.
I.   Introduction       ...............................    .............. 2
II. Early years.       ...............................     ............... 5
III. Civic leader      ...................................................9
IV. Reputation lost .......................................... 10
V.   Scott s writing career..................................... 14
A. First publication.   .......................       ............... 14
B. Travel writings about Spain   ................      ............. 15
C. History writing........................................ 15
D. Scott's library                      ......................................... 17
* Professor Emeritus of Law, University of Wyoming.
Roman Legal Tradition, 10 (2014), 1-37. ISSN 1943-6483. Published by the Ames Foundation
at the Harvard Law School and the University of Glasgow School of Law. This work may be
reproduced and distributed for all non-commercial purposes. Copyright @ 2014 by Timothy G.
Kearley. All rights reserved apart from those granted above. ROMANLEGALTRADITION.ORG

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