1893 text

Selden’s work was highly esteemed, and Charles I. made an order in council that a copy should be kept in the Council chest, another in the Court of Exchequer, and a third in the Court of Admiralty. The book Pepys refers to is Nedham’s translation, which was entitled, “Of the Dominion or Ownership of the Sea. Two Books . . . , written at first in Latin and entituled Mare Clausum, by John Selden. Translated into English by Marchamont Nedham. London, 1652.” This has the Commonwealth arms on the title-page and a dedication “To the Supreme Autoritie of the Nation-The Parliament of the Commonwealth of England.” The dedication to Charles I. in Selden’s original work was left out. Apparently a new title-page and dedication was prepared in 1663, but the copy in the British Museum, which formerly belonged to Charles Killigrew, does not contain these additions.


6 Annotations

Sjoerd  •  Link

MARE CLAUSUM and MARE LIBERUM (Lat. for " closed sea / free sea")
in international law, terms associated with the historic controversy which arose out of demands on the part of different states to assert exclusive dominion over areas of the open or high sea. Thus Spain laid claim to exclusive dominion over whole oceans, Great Britain to all her environing narrow seas and so on. These claims gave rise to vigorous opposition by other powers and led to the publication of Grotius's work (1609) called "Mare liberum". In Mare clausum (1635) John Selden endeavoured to prove that the sea was practically as capable of appropriation as territory. Owing to the conflict of claims which grew out of the controversy, maritime states had to moderate their demands and base their pretensions to maritime dominion on the principle that it extended seawards from land.

A formula was found by Bynkershoek in his De dominio maris (1702) for the restriction of dominion over the sea to the actual distance to which cannon range could protect it. This became universally adopted and developed into the three-mile belt.

( from http://54.1911encyclopedia.org/M/MA/MARE_CLAUSU... )

Michael Robinson  •  Link

Selden's 'Mare Clausum ...'

The Pepysian Library contains the first edition of 1635 (PL 2048) and the second edition, 1663, of the English translation by Marchamont Needham,(PL 2135), first issued in 1652.

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