Overview

Reprint of the final issue of this book (1891). Originally published in 1878, this foundational work of comparative jurisprudence explores the social and legal evolution of ancient Indo-European societies, then commonly termed ""Aryan,"" treating the household-rather than the individual-as the fundamental building block of ancient civilization. Hearn traces how primitive kinship, domestic authority, and archaic religious practices like ancestor worship eventually transformed into complex political and legal systems. Positioned alongside the works of Henry Sumner Maine, it is cited as a foundational text for understanding the transition from kin-based organization to modern civil law. A lawyer with a background in classics, a subject he taught as a college professor, William Edward Hearn [1826-1888] was a distinguished Irish-Australian academic, economist, and politician who played a leading role in the intellectual life of 19th-century Australia. As one of the four original professors at the University of Melbourne, he became a pioneering figure in legal, political and economic scholarship and served as the first dean of the university's law school.viii, 494 pp.

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