The Law of Ejectments, or, A Treatise Shewing the Nature of Ejectione Firme, the Difference Between it and Trespass...
| The Law of Ejectments | ||
 at the College of William & Mary. |
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| Date | 1700 | |
Ejectment is a legal action that is used to recover land from a wrongful possessor.[1] It is like an eviction, but for removing someone who is on the land without a lease.[2] Modern ejectment actions typically involve questions of unclear ownership, while historically, ejectment actions were about an owner reclaiming possession from someone who was not supposed to be there.[3] Historical ejectment actions, particularly those in the eighteenth century, involved using a legal fiction to make a pretend lease and lessee.[4] Ejectment was used throughout the colonies, but may have varied in its use across borders. [5] “[I]t was a crucial tool for landowners to assert their rights and maintain control over their property.”[6] Given the doctrine’s significance, it makes sense that Wythe, as a professor of law and a practicing lawyer, would have owned a resource such as this.
Evidence for Inclusion in Wythe's Library
The Brown Bibliography[7] suggests Wythe owned this title based on quotations in the manuscript version of John Marshall's law notes. Brown lists the first edition (1700) because Thomas Jefferson sold a copy of the first edition to the Library of Congress in 1815.[8] The Wolf Law Library has yet to find a copy of this work.
See also
References
- ↑ “Ejectment,” Britannica, accessed April 14, 2026, https://www.britannica.com/money/ejectment
- ↑ “What Is An Action For Ejectment?” Larry E. Bray, accessed April 14, 2026, https://www.braylawoffices.com/what-is-an-action-for-ejectment/
- ↑ “Ejectment vs. Eviction: Understanding the Key Differences,” Your Advocates, accessed April 14, 2026, https://www.your-advocates.org/blog/2025/february/ejectment-vs-eviction-understanding-the-key-diff/#chat-popup
- ↑ “Additional Research on Ejectment Cases,” Charles Donahue, Jr., accessed April 14, 2026, https://amesfoundation.law.harvard.edu/ColonialAppeals/ejectment.php
- ↑ Ibid.
- ↑ Your Advocates, “Ejectment vs. Eviction.”
- ↑ Bennie Brown, "The Library of George Wythe of Williamsburg and Richmond," (unpublished manuscript, 2009, rev. 2023) Microsoft Word document (on file at the Wolf Law Library, William & Mary Law School).
- ↑ E. Millicent Sowerby, Catalogue of the Library of Thomas Jefferson, (Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress, 1952-1959), 2:310, no.1984.