The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-07-26 00:00:00

JU DOM ENTS.

The LoltD CnatscaLLoa informed the bar, as
it would nut be necessary for him to sit in the
to •gs io the House of Lords during the present
sittings in Chancery, that he would sit daily its
Court ; he therefore desired that the paper for this
day should stand for to-morrow, when he would
give the judgments mentioned in it. as his mind
had been so occupied with judgments elsewhere
(the House of Lords) that Ise had not time to attend
to them ou the paper.

INJUNCTION,PIRACY.
STEDMAN r. OUT •ND OTHERS.

Mr. HAaT, Couissel for the PhoutilL moved for
an injunciiun to restrain the Defendants front pro•
ceeding in selling a book called " Guy's Klement, of
Astronomy," which was in part pirated from the work
of the Plaintiff, deoomimoted " Stedmon's Study of
Astronomy." the first edition of which was pub-
lished in 1793, and hail gone through four edition's;
the last published in 1819. The Defendant Guy
was Professor of Astronomy to the Royal Military
College; and the other Defendants were Messrs.
Baldwin and Co. respectable booksellers, who were
his printers and publishers. If his Lordship would
compare the two books together he would find that
of the Defendants contained a volt deal which was
in the Plaintiff's, but certainly in a colourable
shape. Under these circumstances he load nu doubt
but his Lordship would grant the injunction.
Mr. SHADWELL. Counsel for Defendants, said,
he did not deny but there was a simila►ity in the
contents of the two books, bat the Court of Chan-
cery never interfered by injunction in any case
where dee diligence was not used ; he would sliew
that it had first been so used here. The book of the
Defendants was published io Feb. 1819. The Plain-
tiff did not file his bill until April 1820, and ors this
day, the osth July, for the first time, moved for AO
injunction. He held in his hand an affidavit of the
defendant Baldwin, which proved the very manner
these gentlemen, the Defeudants, treated the care
in the first instance, stating, that Mr. Mawmoo, the
agent of the Plaintiff. waited on the deponent in
February last, and niforrned him for the Brat time,
that the Defendants' book was pirated, in part, from
that of the Plaintiff: On this information, depo-
uent immediately wrote to the Plaintiff, expressing
!thermos, that such a circumstance should have takeu
place,thst it was without his knowledge, and contrary
to the manner of him and hiss partners doing busissees;
then informed him, that they having published a
lithe book, writicu by the Defendant on geometry,
he applied to him to write one on astronomy ;
and hr was induced to this, from hearing that
the Defendant. Guy, had written one on the sub-
ject for the use of his school in the Royal Ma-
hoary College, he complied with the Depunent's
request, and furnished him with the book complaiued
of. That the Deponent informed the Plaintiff that
there were but Yff numbers of the Defendant, Guy's,
book unsold, and that he, the Deponent, would take
care, if there was 'soother edition published, that tLe
part charged to be pirated should be omitted. The
Learned Counsel then said, that in his opinion the
question now before the Court was not whether the
Defendant Guy's book was a piracy or toot, or whe-
ther he and the Plaintiff had taken from Mr.
book, which was the general source of all au-
thors on the subject of astronomy ; but the ques-
tion was, as the piracy had lasted so long as from
February, 1819, whether Isis Lordship would now
grant an injunction on an ex-parte application
The LORD CHANCELLOR observed. that the fair
thiug to he dune in this care was, to allow the De-
fendants to sell the books they had already printed,
and to be restrained by injunction from printing
and sidling any other edition containing any part of
the Plaintiff's book.— lisjuisction, granted ro part.