TY - BOOK ID - 85688386 TI - Armed with swords and scales : law, culture, and local courtrooms in London, 1860-1913 PY - 2021 SN - 110886371X 1108864031 1108871666 9781108863711 1108491553 9781108491556 9781108798464 1108798462 PB - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press DB - UniCat KW - Courts of first instance KW - History KW - Courts of original jurisdiction KW - First Instance, Courts of KW - Original jurisdiction, Courts of KW - Courts UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:85688386 AB - In the mid-eighteenth century, author and magistrate Henry Fielding adjudicated cases of theft, assault, and public disorder from his London home on Bow Street. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Fielding's modest 'police office' had expanded to become the most prolific court system in Britain and the cornerstone of criminal and civil justice in the metropolis. Sascha Auerbach examines the fascinating history of this institution through the lens of 'courtroom culture' - the combination of formal statute and informal custom that guided everyday practice in the London Police Courts. He offers a new model for understanding the relationship between law, culture, and society in modern Britain and illuminates how the local courtroom became a crucial part of everyday life and thoroughly entangled with popular representations of justice and morality. ER -