About the Author

One of the most important jurists and international lawyers of his time, Cornelius van Bynkershoek [1673-1743] was an influential Dutch jurist who founded the positive school of international law, which held that usage and practice were more important than deductions drawn from natural law. Peter Stephen Du Ponceau [1760-1844] is an important figure in the early history of American Law and letters. He founded the Law Academy of Philadelphia in 1821, was the President of the American Philosophical Society and was a much-consulted expert on international relations and linguistics. Penn State Dickinson Law; University College London; National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine