Abstract of Title
2 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Abstract of Title. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a document setting forth in an orderly manner the essential facts of all patents, deeds, mortgages, releases, or other transactions affecting the title to a particular tract of land. In America a complete abstract states how the original owner came into possession, and describes all transfers to the present time. It should also show what taxes, if any, remain unpaid, and whether any judgments or other obligations exist which render the present owner unable to give a clear title. Ordinarily the seller of a tract of land is expected to furnish such an abstract for the buyer or his attorney to inspect, but he is under no legal obligation to do so. Many English abstracts begin with Doomsday Book. In Louisiana an abstract is likely to begin with some Spanish grant two centuries old. In the states of the Middle West the first entry is likely to cite a government patent conveying a homestead, preemption quarter, tree claim, or scrip claim to the original settler.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
an evidence of ownership in the conveyance of property. It aims in abbreviated form to trace as far back as possible or desirable the history of the property, the names of its successive owners and the dates of various transfers. In England, it is customary for the vendor to furnish abstract together with the deed, and this is frequently done in the United States. The practice in this country, however, is becoming less and less common, because of the work done by title companies, who, having assured themselves of the validity and marketability of the title, guarantee the buyer against loss up to the amount of his purchase.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Collier's guessed right in 1921 when it said the abstract was becoming "less and less common" in the United States because of title companies: title insurance is now the standard product in most American states, and where searches are still made they are run against computerized county indexes rather than compiled by hand. England went further. The Law of Property Act 1925 and the spread of compulsory registration turned the abstract into a relic there: for land registered at HM Land Registry — now the great majority of England and Wales — the register itself is the proof of title, and no chain of deeds need be abstracted at all. For the shrinking remainder of unregistered land, the seller need only show a "root of title" 15 years old, cut down from 30 years by the Law of Property Act 1969, so nothing remotely resembling Aiton's abstracts "beginning with Doomsday Book" is required.
Written for this edition, 2026.