Curiosities Of The Search Room

Byrne, Wm. Pitt, Mrs. [Julia C.], Compiler. Curiosities of theSearch-Room: A Collection of Serious, and Whimsical Wills. London: Chapman and Hall, 1880. ix, 407 pp. Reprinted 2005 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-590-4. ISBN-10: 1-58477-590-4. Cloth. $95.* Byrne [1819-1894] describes this collection of colorful wills as "a series of romantic narratives." Some are so romantic, in fact, that "those who are at a loss for the plot of a new novel might dip into this collection for novel materials" (ii). Contents include "Excentric Wills," "Puzzling Wills," "Wills in Obsolete Language and and in Rime," "Vindictive Wills," "Bequests to Wives," "Wills in Favour of Dumb Animals," "Disputed Wills" and "Wills of Remarkable Persons."