author
John Proffatt
1845–1879
A 19th-century lawyer with a gift for making legal questions readable, he wrote lively, accessible books on wills, jury trials, and the legal status of women. His work blends practical law with the odd human stories that gather around it.
1 Audiobook
The Curiosities and Law of Wills
by John Proffatt
About the author
John Proffatt was an English-born lawyer and legal writer who died in San Francisco in July 1879 while still a young man. A contemporary newspaper notice described him as a well-known author of legal works and said he studied law at Columbia College in New York after being educated in England.
His books show a wide range within legal writing. They include Woman before the Law (1874), which reviews women's legal status in areas such as marriage, motherhood, property rights, and divorce; The Curiosities and Law of Wills (1876), a more unusual and engaging work on testamentary law; and major treatises on notaries public, private corporations, and trial by jury. He was also connected with early volumes of The American Decisions.
What makes Proffatt interesting to modern readers is the mix in his writing: he was clearly a serious legal scholar, but he also knew how to turn technical subjects into books with personality. Even in a short life, he left behind works that were practical, curious, and surprisingly readable.