Barrett, Bryant, Translator. The Code Napoleon, Verbally Translated From the French: To Which is Prefixed an Introductory Discourse, Containing a Succinct Account of the Civil Regulations, Comprised in the Jewish Law, the Ordinances of Menu, the Ta Tsing Leu Lee, the Zend Avesta, the Laws of Solon, the Twelve Tables of Rome, the Laws of the Barbarians, the Assises of Jerusalem, and the Koran. London: W. Reed, 1811. Two volumes. cccxciii, 575 pp. Reprinted 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 2003044238. ISBN 1-58477-381-2. Cloth. $160. * Reprint of the first English edition. Bryant Barrett was an English attorney and member of Gray's Inn. His superb translation is noteworthy in part because it was published the year the Code was enacted. As such, it has the advantage of being in a style of English that is an idiomatic contemporary to the original French. Many scholars believe that this is the finest translation of the Code. Indeed, they have found it to be more accurate than the official Louisiana edition. Barrett's index, which follows the style of English lawyer's common-place books and abridgments, is a thorough guide to the Code. The philological basis of his 393-page introduction had a profound influence on the subsequent development of Classical British legal ethnography.

Originally published: 5th ed. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1956.

Early English translation of the Code Napoleon. xix, 627 pp. Originally published: London: Printed for Charles Hunter, Law Bookseller, 1824. Reprint of the second English edition. A comprehensive reformation and codification of the French civil laws, the Code Napoleon was renamed the Civil Code after the Bourbon restoration, and is still in force. It has served as the model for the legal codes of more than twenty nations throughout the world. The French Revolution overturned many of the hundreds of codes of law that had prevailed from ancient times, and added more than 14,000 pieces of legislation. After the National Convention and Directory failed in five attempts to organize this unwieldy mass, Napoleon appointed a commission to draft the new Civil Code. It was enacted in March 21, 1804, after a three year period of 87 sessions. It embodies a typically Napoleonic mix of liberalism and conservatism. Most of the freedoms won by the revolution, such as equality before the law, freedom of religion and the abolition of feudalism were preserved. At the same time, the Code reinforced patriarchal power by making the husband the ruler of the household. The translator, GEORGE SPENCE [1787-1850], was an English jurist and Barrister of the Inner Temple.