Halsbury's Laws 5th Edition Volumes 14A and 15A Explained

Count along a fifth edition set of Halsbury's Laws of England and you may find two books for one number: a Volume 15 and a Volume 15A. That is how the set is meant to look, and here is why.

Why does my set have volumes like 14A and 15A? Is something duplicated?

No. A lettered volume is a separate book with its own contents, and it sits on the shelf beside the volume with the same number.

Halsbury's Laws is divided into titles, one for each area of law, arranged in alphabetical order across the volumes. When the fifth edition began in 2008, the Bodleian Law Library in Oxford reported the plan: the complete set "will be 102 volumes, numbered straight through" from 1 to 102. Since then, some titles have needed more books than they were first given, and the extra books have been added with letters. Wildy & Sons, the legal bookseller, lists fifth edition volumes such as 1A, 2A, 4A, 12A, 14A, 15A, 24A and 99A.

Think of a street where a new house is built between number 14 and number 15. It becomes 14A, so every house further along keeps its address. A lettered volume works the same way: it fits in where it belongs, and every volume after it keeps its number.

How Volumes 14, 14A, 15 and 15A came about

Volumes 14 and 15 show it happening. In the fifth edition they were published in 2009 as Companies Part 1 and Companies Part 2.

On 25 July 2016, reissued versions of Volumes 14 and 15 came out on the same day as a new Volume 15A, which is also titled Companies. A reissue is a fresh version of a volume, published when the law in it has changed enough.

On 13 September 2023, Volumes 14, 14A, 15 and 15A were all published on the same day. So a set kept up to date now holds four books in the stretch of shelf that held two in 2009.

Sometimes a subject moves into the new lettered volume. Wildy's listing for Volume 2A, published in 2022, includes "Blank stickers to cover subject 'Aviation' on Vol 2 (2017)". So if the 2017 Volume 2 in your set has a blank sticker on its spine, it was most likely put there to cover the word Aviation.

When two books really do share a number

Real duplicates do turn up, and the year tells you which is which. Volumes are reissued as and when changes in the law justify it, and some are reissued every year: Wildy lists a new Volume 99 and a new Volume 99A for every year from 2018 to 2026.

So if your shelf holds two copies of the same volume with different years, such as a 15A from 2016 and a 15A from 2023, the newer one replaced the older one. The older copy is superseded, which means something newer has taken its place, and it no longer shows the current law. Our guide to superseded Halsbury's Laws volumes explains which old volumes to keep and what to do with the rest.

How to check your set is complete

Halsbury's is arranged by subject, so a missing volume is a missing piece of the law. A few checks tell you where you stand.

Look for gaps in the numbers. The main run is numbered straight through, so a number missing from the shelf is a volume missing from the set.

Check the lettered volumes against their partners. The numbers alone don't tell you which lettered volumes exist. The years help: if your Volume 14 is the 2023 reissue, look for 14A beside it, because the two were published on the same day.

Look for the books that belong with the main volumes. Wildy describes the complete set as including a consolidated index and consolidated tables of cases, statutes and statutory instruments, and the set is kept up to date by an annual Cumulative Supplement and a monthly service. These are how a reader finds the right page and checks it is still up to date.

You don't need to settle every number before asking for a valuation. Clear photos of the spines show which volumes are there, lettered ones included.

What lettered volumes mean when you sell your set

The lettered volumes are part of the set, so keep them on the shelf with the rest. A gap where a lettered volume should be is a gap in the law the set covers, the same as any other missing volume, and our guide to whether old law books are worth anything explains why gaps matter when a set is valued. Our guide to what an old edition of Halsbury's Laws is worth covers the earlier editions.

We buy Halsbury's Laws of England, and you can read more about selling your Halsbury's Laws to us. Photograph the set bay by bay, square to the shelves and in good light, so a 14 and a 14A can be told apart on the spines, and include the index, the supplements and any older copies you have kept. We value the set for free from your photos. If you go ahead, we pack it from the shelves, lettered volumes included, collect it free from anywhere in the UK, and pay for it into your bank account.

Getting your set valued

Once the spines are photographed, send the pictures through the valuation form or WhatsApp them to 07920 748314, and let us know the town or postcode where the set is shelved. We will tell you whether we can buy your set.