First published in 1664, this book, though ostensibly descriptive, was written chiefly to maintain the jurisdiction of the Admiralty court in the new government. Beyond its political interest, it offers a detailed analysis of seventeenth-century maritime law and admiralty jurisdiction at the time when Great Britain was emerging as a major maritime and colonial power. Exton [1600?-1668] was educated at Cambridge, earning the LL.D. in Civil Law in 1634. He was appointed President of the High Court of Admiralty by Parliament in 1649, and was reappointed by the Duke of York after the Restoration.