|
This book of English statutes belonged to Joseph Murray (1694-1757), a
lawyer in colonial New York. A prominent and successful practitioner, Murray
served on the vestry of Trinity Church from 1720 to 1726 and as warden until
1757. He was a member of the King's College Board of Governors since its
foundation in 1754. Although married, he had no children and when he died in
1757, he bequeathed his library to the recently founded College, along with a
considerable remainder of his estate. With enough money to import law books from
England, Murray assembled an excellent library of law reports and treatises.
Unfortunately the College library suffered plundering during the American
Revolution resulting in the loss of many of Murray's gifts.
|