British peerage law is a body of custom, legislation and precedent relating to the five degrees of nobility: baron, viscount, marquess, earl and duke. Palmer wrote this treatise for lawyers and historians. The first book on this subject since William Cruise's Origin and Nature of Dignities or Titles of Honour (1810), it is both a history and a practical treatise. Chapters in this study include "Modes of Creation," "Jurisdiction in Peerage Matters," "Rights, Duties and Privileges of Peerage" and "Descent of Peerages. "