Definition
An archaic formal salutation used to open written legal instruments, particularly bonds, deeds, powers of attorney, and similar documents. The phrase functions as a public proclamation — effectively announcing to any reader that the instrument that follows is binding and intended to have general legal effect. It is not itself a substantive legal term but a ceremonial preamble marking the beginning of a formal instrument and signaling its solemn character.
As an opening clause, "Know All Men" typically precedes identification of the parties: "Know All Men by These Presents that I, [name]..." The phrase "by these presents" (meaning "by this document") commonly accompanies it and completes the conventional formula.
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Common Language
Modern common usage (Wiktionary): Not independently defined; recognized as an archaic or formal phrase meaning "let it be known to everyone."
Historical common usage (Webster's 1913): Not separately defined; the component words carry their plain meanings — "know" as to perceive or understand, "all men" as all persons.
The gap here is not one of conflicting meanings but of register. In ordinary language the phrase is simply transparent: a declaration addressed to everyone. In legal instruments, the phrase carries a technical function — it is a term of art signaling the formal opening of a deed, bond, or power of attorney, importing the document's public and binding character. A researcher encountering it in a historical instrument should read it as a structural marker, not merely decorative language.
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Why It Matters in Research
Researchers working with pre-twentieth-century instruments — particularly deeds, bonds, indentures, and powers of attorney — will encounter this phrase at the head of documents in both American and English sources. Its presence signals the document type and era. Instruments opening with "Know All Men by These Presents" follow a drafting tradition with roots in medieval English conveyancing and were standard form in American legal practice well into the nineteenth century.
The phrase rarely appears in modern instruments, having been displaced by plainer drafting conventions. When it does appear in contemporary documents, it is typically in formal bonds, surety instruments, or ceremonial acknowledgments. Researchers should be alert to this shift: the absence of the phrase in twentieth-century sources does not mean the underlying instrument type disappeared, only that the opening formula was modernized or dropped.
The phrase is also a useful indexing and search marker in historical document corpora. Its presence can help date an instrument or confirm it belongs to a recognized formal category. Researchers searching digitized deed books, probate records, or colonial-era legal papers will find this phrase a reliable indicator of instrument type.
Because the formula is borrowed from the Latin "Noverint universi" (and its Old French equivalents used in medieval legal practice), researchers working with documents in translation or in bilingual archives should recognize both the Latin original and the English rendering as functional equivalents.
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Historical Dictionary Support
All three source dictionaries are in agreement on the essentials: "Know All Men" is an ancient form of public address used to open formal written instruments, particularly bonds and letters of attorney. Black's (both editions) and Burrill's characterize it uniformly as a conveyancing formula of great antiquity.
Burrill adds the most useful scholarly context, noting that the phrase is a literal translation of "Noverint universi" and citing Coke on Littleton (Co. Litt. 380b) for Lord Coke's treatment of the underlying Latin phrase. Burrill also notes Cowell's conjecture about the phrase's Old French origins — a point of historical interest that neither edition of Black's develops. This makes Burrill the richer source for researchers interested in the phrase's linguistic lineage.
What the historical dictionaries do not address: none of the source dictionaries discuss the phrase's declining use or its displacement in modern drafting. They treat it as a living formula rather than an archaic survival, which reflects the state of practice at the time of their composition. Researchers should not infer from the dictionary treatment that the phrase remained standard into the twentieth century — it did not.
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Jurisdictional Note
The formula "Know All Men by These Presents" was used across American jurisdictions and in English practice without meaningful regional variation in meaning. Local differences, where they existed, concerned drafting customs and form-book conventions rather than the legal effect of the phrase itself.
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