Maine, Sir Henry

Maine, Sir Henry (James Sumner)

(born Aug. 15, 1822, Kelso, Roxburgh, Scot.—died Feb. 3, 1888, Cannes, France) British jurist and legal historian. He taught civil law at the University of Cambridge (1847–54) and lectured on Roman law at the Inns of Court. These lectures became the basis of his Ancient Law (1861) and Early History of Institutions (1875), which influenced both political theory and anthropology. In 1869 he became the first professor of comparative jurisprudence at the University of Oxford; in 1887 he became professor of international law at Cambridge. As a member of the council of the governor-general of India (1863–69), he shaped plans for the codification of Indian law. He was knighted in 1871.