JOHN B. COLVIN
A MAGISTRATE’S GUIDE AND CITIZEN’S COUNSELLOR: BEING A DIGESTED ABSTRACT OF THOSE LAWS … MOST NECESSARY … IN COMMON TRANSACTIONS OF LIFE
(FREDERICK-TOWN, MARYLAND: [S.N.], 1805).

This practice guide, a genre of legal writing that originated in England, was useful for laymen and local officials like justices of the peace. It treated forms of action in court, rules of procedure, and areas of law like inheritance, marriage, and contracts. One early owner, Robert John, appears to have been a local JP or other official. He notes that he bought the book on June 28, 1815, “on the same day I held an inquiry on a boy that was accidentally shot on Charles fords.” In another note, scribbled on the volume’s flyleaf, John writes, “to lend this book I am very free and will not refuse, if you return it back again and do it not abuse; steal not this book for fear of shame, for look above and you will see the owner’s name.” Other marked pages reflect the piety of the owner and religious practices of the time. Like the collection of Cherokee laws, this book clearly had a personal and family importance to its owner that went beyond the law.