The republic., 1851-10-30
ENGLISH REPORTS I'M LAW AND

]
IL and judicial opinions OF the several Courts Of
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
ly and cheapy furnished to the legal profession In
this country, has long been seriously lei! and ae
/ the "Lalb Journal Reports" and "1ne J'1ist, 7"
which, together report decisions in all The Courts an
! LGlO and Equity, within few weeks after their
delivery, commenced a number oil years
since, and have met with the universal approba-
ton OF the legal profession Their high cost, how
ever, has hitherto prevented their general circu-
aton In this country, and their merits are as yet
I but little known among u.s.
/ The subscribers propose to republish these re-
ports in full fast as they appear in England and
can be received here. They will contain reports
OF cases decided in the House oil Lords, the Privy
Council, the several Courts OF Equity the Court OF
I Queens Bench, the Court OF Common Pleas, the
Court of Exchequer and Exchequer Chamber, the
Ecclesiastical and Admiralty Courts, the Court OF
Bankruptcy, including also the Election cases, the
Crown Cases Reserved, and the Railway and Canal
/ CAsee,
Thcse reports will be published in numbers or
parts, commencing with the decisions oil Michael
mas (November) term, $780, and Will be carefully
edited by member of the bar, with notes and re-
! ferences to analogous American decisions.
! Each number will consist of over three hundred
pages closely printed octave, on the best paper and
in clear fair type and will contain table OF cases.
and full table of contents, thus forming COM
plete volume by ITSELF as well as part of an en-
tire series. Every alternate or second number will
be PACED conseculively from the number imme-
and of contents TO both, and thus form a complete
volume, ready for binding Of ouer sr hundred pages
In each volume the cases of the several courts will
be found arranged together, and, in point OF style
and typographical execution, this series will be
fully equal to the best reports of England or this
country.
I It is designed to make this a PERMANENT PUBL
CATION, and thus establish series of English
Law and Equity Reports, which shall, In all re-
spects, be far in advance of any other reprint Of
English Reports in this country, and which shall
furnish to the American lawyer the decisions of
Westminster Hall, nearly tipo years before they
could ohertoSe be obtained, and long before the pub
llcation OF the contemporaneous decisions OF most
of our own tribunals.
twelve numbers payable in advance, or for the six
volumes, handsomely AID uniformly bound in law
sheep, 10.
The parts will be sold separately, it desired, at
D each.
Single volume, bound, 50 25.
Parts |. and H. stitched, or Vol l., bound in law
sheep, containing reports of one hundred and
eighty eight cases, now ready for delivery.
The following among the opinions of this
work expressed on the publication Of the first num-
ber
Letter from Hon. DIaard Fillmore, President Of Me
United States.
WAsnNaToN, April 13 1851
JAMES BRowN, ESQ: My DEAR SIa-Some days
since l received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General, the first number of the English Reports,
which you propose to repubsh in this country,
comprising every reported in England; and !
have your letter of the 9th instant, inquiring
my opinion of the enterprise.
! While pursuing my profession, ! took deep in
terest in publications. of this kind The able
judges who have adorned the judicial tribunals of
England, have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined its profoundest depths. con-
slider no law library complete that does not contain
their principal reports in Law and Equity, and in
their Ecccsastical Courts, and in Admiralty. For
come years had been in the habit of receiving
these in g condensed" form. This condensation,
however, consisted, not in abbreviation of each
case, but n selection from the several cases, and I
was often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Digcsts, which | deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the SO condensed reports" !
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some time since to republish the whole.
If the English Reports entire, be republished
with despatch in this country at price so low as
to bring them within the reach of the members of
the bar generally, conceive that it will confer
great benefit upon the profession and the judiciary,
and consequently upon the country at large. Know
ing your enterprise anticipate your success, and
can only express the hope that your reward may
be equal to your merits | am your obedient
servant, hILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Ne,o York Literary World
Nessrs. Little s, Brown, of Boston, whosc law
books, in point of typographical execution, vie
with the best similar issues of the English press,
4 and in point of value and importance are inferior
| to none in this country, have just commenced the
publication of legal series deserving the especial
!
The basis of this series, of which the first mum
Der is before US, the La,c Journal Reports and
the JuTist, two English serials which communicate
to the British Bar, within few weeks after their
delivery, the prominent decisions of all the courts
! from the House of Lords TO the Court of Bankrupt
cy, and other tribunals of limited but practically
/ important jurisdiction. This excellent arrange
might be followed with great advantagein this
country, for the purpose of obviating the delay
which necessarily attends the issuing of the regu
/ lar volumes OF reports of particular courts and
we glad to see the enterprise of our legal pub
shers availing themselves OF it, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
cssion. The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing of its sanction and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives to their
ndiudications a continued weight and decisive in
uence with courts. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported cases there have grown old
before they could be quoted and applied here, and
| there was no way in which the current iurispru-
dencc and adjudicatons of the day in the English
courts could be made available by the American
bar, except at great expense and by continual vgi-
lance. This difficulty Messrs. Little s. Browns
Reports will remove; the decided in the
Queens Bench the Common Pleas, and the Ex
chequer Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
! livery here in April or May, long before adjudged
cases of the same date in own courts appear in
the regular reports in which they are perpetuated.
Nearly two years will thus be gained over the pre-.
sent system, which requires delay until the large
volume of authorized reports is published the
other side and b len been reprinted on this.
One advantage # the present series is that the
decisions whichi gives those of courts in danc
the deliberate judgments of the bench, and the
less reliable decisions at Nisi Prius, which, how
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry
I with them the same authority and force.
/ The Reports edited by Z. H. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs., of the Boston bar and their
/ systematic arrangement, and the care with which
! the notes, index, &c. prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
! be carried out.
In this connexion we take pleasure in adverting
to Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publca,
| tons, among which included many of the mos.
conspicuous and authoritative treatses Of our juris-
prudence. Judge Story's worlss, for ming a library
almost Of themselves, and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation 10 American read
ers in general, as well as to the legal profession
have all issued from their press; have also the
several works OF Professor Grcenlcaf Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications arc asc
issued by them, the United Stctes Digest and the
Statutes al Large; the latter being the authorized
edition of the Acts of Congress, got up in much
better style, both for reference and preservation,
than under the old regime OF public printing at
Washington, which included the annual statutes
and sent them forth to the world on thin paper and
in bad type.
ErOu fhe Mem York Epeninp Post