Henry de Bracton (or Bretton or Bratton) wrote De legibus et Consuetudinibus Angliae (On the Laws and Customs of England).
"The outstanding common-law treatise of the Middle Ages, it is remarkable for its use of actual court decisons for illustrative purposes. It appears to have been written by a number of authors in the 1250's, with the last work being done on it by Henry de Bracton when he was a judge of the King's Bench."
Bracton's original manuscript did not survive.
"There are approximately 49 surviving manuscripts of Bracton, many fragmentary or abridged. All date from the c14 or very late c13, and none is closer than third generation from the original." (quotations from Harvard Law School Library Bracton Online, accessed 12-30-2008).
Bracton's De Legibus was first published in print by Richard Tottel, London, 1569.
