Publications of the Endowment Carnegie for International Peace Division of International Law Washington THE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW CLASSICS EDITED BY James Brown Scott Member ofthe Institute ofInternational Law President ofthe American Institute ofInternational Law HISPANICAE ADVOCATIONIS DVO LIBRI By Alberico Gentili VOL. L A Photographic Reproduction of the Edition of 1661, with an Introduction by Frank Frost Abbott, and a List of Errata. Vol. II. A Translation of the Text, by Frank Frost Abbott, with an Index of Authors prepared by Arthur Williams. This volumewith Vol.JIconstitutes No. 9 of "The Classics of Interna- tional Law." A list of the numbers already publishedis given at theend of this volume. PREFACE The republication of the classic works connected with the history and development of international law was undertaken by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in 1906, at the sug- gestion of the undersigned, then Solicitor for the Department of State, under whose supervision as General Editor the series has since been published. On January i, 1917, the project was transferred to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the publication of the series is being continued by the Endowment's Division of International Law. The present volume, Gentili's Hispanica Advocatio, is edited with an Introduction by the distinguished classicist, Professor Frank Frost Abbott, who has also made the English translation of the text of Gentili's treatise. The reasons for including Gentili's treatise are sufficiently set forth byProfessor Abbott in his introduction. The original text, issued in 1613 by the brother of the author, and five years after his death, is exceedingly hard to get, for, although search was made, no copy was to be had in London, Paris or Leipzig. The photographic reproductionmade from a copy of the second edition, appearing in 1661, in the possession of the Library of Congress, places the work within the hands of any and all coun- and Professor Abbott's faithful translation of a text which tries, abounds in difficulties and which has not hitherto been translated into English makes its mastery an easy matter to the English- speaking world. One reason for republishing the classics of International Law is the difficulty of procuring the texts in convenient form for scientific study; the libraries in the United States have been searched with the result that few of the earlier works were to be found. Another reason is that some of the works selected for republication have never been translated into English. The American publicist is therefore at a disadvantage in consult- ing works of admitted authority, and when found they are, as it were, sealed books to all but trained Latinists. The specialist is thus forced to rely upon summary statements and references to them to be found in treatises on International Law, or is driven to examine them in European libraries, often a difficult task, while the general reader is practically barred from the stores of knowledge locked up in the earlier works on the Law of Nations. The same difficulty exists in Latin America, Japan, and in a lesser degree in many European countries. ta Preface Eminent publicists, European and American, who have been consulted as to the usefulness of the plan to republish the Classics, have indorsed the project and have pledged their personal cooperation. The works to be included in the series have not only been approved but suggested by them, so that the undertaking is international in scope, in selection, and in execution. The underlying principle of selection has been to reissue those works which can be said to have contributed either to the origin or to the growth of International Law and the term classic has been used in the broad rather than in the narrow sePxSe, so that no work will be omitted which can be said to have contributed to the origin or growth of the Law of Na- tions. The masterpieces of Grotius will naturally be the central point in the series, but the works of his leading prede- cessors and successors will likewise be included. The text of each author will be reproduced photographically, so as to lay the source before the reader without the mistakes which creep into a newly printed text. In the case of the early authors the photographed text will be accompanied by a revised text whenever that course shall seem desirable. An Introduc- tion will be prefixed to each work, giving the necessary bio- graphical details and stating the importance of the text and its place in International Law; tables of errata in the original will be added, and notes deemed necessary to clear up doubts and ambiguities or to correct mistakes in the text will be supplied. Variations in successive editions of the text published in the author's lifetime will be noted, but little or nothing in the nature of historical commentary will be furnished. Each work will be accompanied by an English version made expressly for the series by a competent translator. It is hoped that the series will enable specialists as well as general readers to trace International Law from its faint and unconscious beginnings to its present ample proportions and to forecast with some degree of certainty its future develop- ment into that law which Mirabeau tells us will one day rule the world. Brown James Scott, General Editor. Washington, March J, ig20.