ABSTRACT
Books of more general interest than collections of statutes made frequent reference to technical legal terms. The Ladies' Dictionary was compiled almost entirely by men, but men who expected their readers to take an interest in and to have a working knowledge of–property law. The Newe Boke of Presidents first appeared in 1543 and was reprinted five times by the early seventeenth century. It was followed in 1594 by William West's Symbolaeography, which remained the principal conveyancer until the civil war. Copyhold land was held of the manor, either 'at will' of the lord or lady or according to the established custom of the manor. The terms of the jointure were usually set in a pre-marital settlement, involving a trust to protect the annuity which would otherwise be lost under covertures. The trust and/or the marriage settlement was defensible not in manorial or in common law, but in equity.
