Henry Sumner Maine
| Sir Henry Sumner Maine KCSI, LLW, FRS | |||||||||
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| Born | 1822 | ||||||||
| Died | 1888 | ||||||||
| Residence | 27 Cornwall Gardens, South Kensington & Trinity Hall Lodge, Cambridge | ||||||||
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Contents
Notes
Office Notes
House Notes
proposed 1879.01.28
recommended by Edward B. Tylor, J. Evans, 28 Jan. 1879 [A31]
Notes From Elsewhere
Sir Henry James Sumner Maine, KCSI (15 August 1822 – 3 February 1888), was a British comparative jurist[1] and historian. He is famous for the thesis outlined in his book Ancient Law that law and society developed "from status to contract."[2] According to the thesis, in the ancient world individuals were tightly bound by status to traditional groups, while in the modern one, in which individuals are viewed as autonomous agents, they are free to make contracts and form associations with whomever they choose. Because of this thesis, Maine can be seen as one of the forefathers of modern sociology of law.
Publications
External Publications
Ancient Law: Its Connection with the Early History of Society, and Its Relation to Modern Ideas. London: John Murray, 1861. Village-Communities in the East and West. London: John Murray, 1871. The Early History of the Property of Married Women. Manchester: A. Ireland and Co., 1873. Lectures on the Early History of Institutions. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1875. Dissertations on Early Law and Custom: Chiefly Selected from Lectures Delivered at Oxford. London: John Murray, 1883. Popular Government: Four Essays. London: John Murray, 1885. International Law: A Series of Lectures Delivered Before the University of Cambridge, 1887. London: John Murray, 1888. Plato: A Poem. Cambridge: Privately Printed, 1894.