The republic., 1851-12-20
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
ErnTrYfpX


street Boston, for publishing by subscription
series Of LGi0 and Equity Reports.
TINHE want of some system by which the decisions
Il and judicial opinions OF the several Courts OF
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
ly and cheaply furnished to the legal profession in
this country, has long been seriously felt and ac
knowledged To meet a similar want in England,
the ''LaI0 Journal Reports" and ''Ihe Jwist,
which together report decisions in all le Courts ni
Lalo aud Equity, within few weeks after their
delivery, were commenced a number OF years
SINCE and have met with the universal apProba-
ton Of the legal profession Their hlgh cost now
ever has hitherto prevented their general clrCu-
lation in this country, and their merits are as yet
but little known among us
ports in full as fast as they appear IN England and
can be received here. They Will contain reports
of cases decided in the House OF Lords, the PrlVy
Council the several Courts OF Equity, the Court oil
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
Cases.
These reports will be published in numbers or
parts, commencing with the decisions OF Michael
mas (November) term, 1850, and will be carefully
edited by member of the bar, with notes and re-
ierences 10 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
pete volume by itself, as well as part OF an en-
series. Every alternate or second NUMBER Will
he paged consecutively from the number lmme-
dately preceding, and will contain table of cases,
and Of contents to both, and thus form complete
volume ready for binding, OF oUe SiT hundred pages
In each volume the of the several courts VIII
be found arranged together, and, IN point OF style
aud typographical execution, this series will be
fully equal to the best reports of England or this
country.
nis Designed to make this PERMANENT PUBL
cArIoN and thus establish ieip series of English
Law and Equity Reports. which shall, IN all re-
sPects, be far in advance OF any other reprint 81
English Reports in this country, and which shall
furnish to the American lawyer the decisions OF
Westminster Hall, nearly tieo gears before they
could oiheriese be obtained and long before tue pub
cation OF the contemporaneous decisions oil most
Of our own tribunals.
The price Of this publication will be $40 for
twelve numbers, payable in advance, or for the six
volumes, Handsomely aad uniformly bound in law
sheep, $l2.
The parts will be sold separately, il desired, at
81 each
Single volume, bound, So 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 are among the opinions OF tins
work expressed on the publication Of the fret num-
Ger
Letter from Hon. Mlard Fillmore, President Of The
Uniied States.
WAsHINGToN, April l3 1851.
JAMES BRowN, ESQ: MY DEAN sIR-Some days
gince ! received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General, the hrst numDer OF the t-ngnSn reports,
which you propose to republish in this country,
comprising every reported in England; and
now 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
iudges who have adorned the judicial tribunals of
England have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and umned its proloundest depths. con-
cider no law library complete that does not contain
their principal reports in Law and Equity, and in
their Eccesastical Courts, aad in Admiralty. For
4. Il H.. IN t,n h1ht f,Af Aikri,
theaa in a ss condensed" form. This condensation,
however consisted, not in an abbreviation of each
CAGE but a selection from the several cases. and
was often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Digests, which ! deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the " condensed reports"
therefore hailed with great pleasure an effort which
was made some tlme since to republlsh the whole.
If the English Reports entire, can be repuhlshcd
with despatch in this country, at price so low Us
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
I can only express the hope that your reward may
be equal TO your merits. | am your obedient
servant, MlLLAhD FlLLhORE.
F,orn he Netu York LITERARY World.
Messrs Little s. Brown, OF Boston, whose law
books, in point OF typographical execution we
with the best similar issues oil the hnglsh press
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
attention of the profession through9ut the country
Tho has; or this series, OF which the first num-
Lar is before u.s. are the Ldie Journal Reports and
the Juia, two English serials which communicate
to the British Bar within a 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
raent mi ght be followed with great advnntageln In 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 are glad to the enterprise OF our legal pub
fishers availing themselves OF it, to introduce the
En- glsh Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fesson. The authority of Westminster Hall has ost
nothing of its sanction and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives to their
adiudicatons a continued weight and decisive in
huence 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 III which the current jurispru-
dence and adjudicatons of the day in the English
courts could be made available by the American
bar except at great expense and by continual yigi-
lance. This difficulty Messrs. Little Browns
Reports will remove; the cases decided iii the
Queens Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Ex
cheduer 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 perpetuated.
Nearly two years will thus be gained over the pre-
cent system which requires delay until the large
volume Of authorized reports is published on the
other eide and has then been reprinted on thi5
One advantage Of the present series is, that the
the deliberate judgments Of the bench, and not the
less reliable decisions at Nisi Prills, which, how
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry
with them the same authority and force.
The Reports edited by f.. II. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs., of the Boston bar, and their
systematic arrangement, and the care with which
the notes index, &c, are 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 publica-
tons among which are included many ofthe most
conspicuous and authoritative treatises Of luris
prudence. Judge Story's works, tor nlng library
almost of themselves and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation TO American read
ers in general, well as to the legal profession,
nave ali issued from their press; as have also the
seyeral works of Professor Greenleaf. Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications also
lssued by them, the United States Digest and the
Slaiutes at Large the latter being the authorized
edition of the Acts of Congress, got up in much
better style both for reference and preservation,
tban under the old regime Of public printing at
N..ta Il N..