Abridgments of the statutes probably originated in the fifteenth century according to Cowley's Bibliography of Abridgments, which gives a good summary of these early abridgments and indexes of the statutes.(38) A detailed list also appears in Maxwell.(39) Only the most important examples have been listed below.
38. Cowley, John D., comp. A Bibliography of Abridgments, Digests, Dictionaries and Indexes of English Law to the Year 1800. Published in association with the Selden Society. London: Quaritch, 1932, at pp.xviii-xxxix
39. Maxwell, William Harold, and Leslie F. Maxwell , comps. A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations. 8 Vols. 2nd ed. London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1955- at pp.563-7