A catalogue of the papers relating to Pennsylvania and Delaware in the State-Paper Office, London, was printed in the Memoirs of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, vol. iv. part ii. p. 236.
[856] Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Province of Pennsylvania. Beginning the Fourth Day of December, 1682. Volume the First, in Two Parts. Philadelphia, 1752. This collection was continued down to the Revolution. It is contained in six folio volumes. The first three are from the press of Franklin and Hall. They are always known as “Votes of the Assembly.”
[857] The first ten volumes of the series known as the Colonial Records bear the title of Minutes of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania, from the Organization [1683] to the Termination of the Proprietary Government; the last six: Minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania from its Organization to the Termination of the Revolution. They contain, however, the Minutes down to 1790. The publication of this series was begun by the State in 1837, the American Philosophical Society and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania having petitioned the Legislature to adopt measures for this end. After three volumes were issued (Harrisburg, 1838-1840) the publication was suspended. In 1851, at the request of the Historical Society, the matter was again brought before the Legislature by Edward Armstrong, Esq., a member of the Society, then a delegate to the Legislature. The sixteen volumes of the Colonial Records and twelve of the Pennsylvania Archives were issued between the years 1852 and 1856. The volumes issued in 1838-1840 were reprinted in 1852, and an index volume to both works in 1860. The latter does not apply to the volume of the Records published in 1838-1840.
[858] Pennsylvania Archives, selected and arranged from Original Documents in the Office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth. By Samuel Hazard, Commencing 1664. 12 vols., 8º. Harrisburg and Philadelphia, 1852-1856. To Mr. Samuel Hazard, who was also the author of the Annals of Pennsylvania and publisher of Hazard’s Register of Pennsylvania (16 vols., 8º, Philadelphia, 1828-1835), the students of history are greatly indebted for the preservation of some of the most important documents relating to the history of the State.
[859] Charter to William Penn and Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania, 1682 and 1700; preceded by Duke of York’s Laws in Force from the year 1676 to the year 1682. Published under the direction of John Blair Linn, Sec. of Commonwealth, Compiled and edited by Staughton George, Benjamin M. Nead, and Thomas McCamant. Harrisburg, 1879, 8º, 614 pp.
Appendix A of this volume contains a compilation of the laws, etc., establishing the Courts of Judicature; it is by Staughton George. Appendix B contains Historical Notes of the Early Government and Legislative Councils and Assemblies of Pennsylvania; it is by Mr. Nead. Both are valuable pieces of work; but we do not agree with Mr. Nead that the laws printed and agreed upon in England, and the written ones prepared by Penn and submitted to the Assembly that met at Upland, December, 1682, were both passed. The passage in Penn’s letter of Dec. 16, 1682, which reads, “the laws were agreed upon more fully worded,” indicates that the printed series was superseded by the written one.
[860] Laws of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, 1810 (Beoren’s edition). The second volume of this edition contains an elaborate “note” on land-titles; it will be found on pp. 105-261. It was prepared by Judge Charles Smith.
View of the Land-Laws of Pennsylvania, with Notes of its Early History and Legislation. By Thomas Sargeant. Philadelphia, 1838, 8º, xiii + 203 pp.
Address before the Law Academy. By Peter McCall. Philadelphia, 1838. A valuable historical essay.
Essay on the History and Nature of Original Titles of Land in Pennsylvania. By Charles Huston. Philadelphia, 1849, 8º, xx + 484 pp.