Historia Placitorum Coronæ or The History of the Pleas of the Crown is an influential treatise on the criminal law of England, written by Sir Matthew Hale and published posthumously by Sollom Emlyn in 1736. The book was published despite an instruction in Hale's will that none of his manuscripts were to be printed after his death unless he had ordered the publication during his life.[1] This was defended by Sollom Evelyn on the basis that it was a work of enormous importance, that he appeared to have revoked this instruction in a codicil and that, in any event, it was obvious that he had intended to publish it. He further observed that the order was the result of fear that the text would be altered or abridged.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part deals with substantive law and the second part deals with procedure.
Historia Placitorum Coronae from Google Books; volume 1 [1] and volume 2 [2] of the 1800 edition; and volume 1 [3] and volume 2 [4] of the first American edition (1847).