The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-05-09
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
E0UITY.

ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EQUITY.
l Proposals by LITTLE q BRows, liz Washington
street, Boston, for publishing by subscription ntso
series Of Lalo and Equity Reports.
TIME want of some system by which the decisions
l. and judicial opinions of the several Courts OF
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
y and cheaply furnished to the legal profession in
| this country, has long been seriously felt and ac
knowedged. To meet a similar want in England,
| the "Lato Journal Reports' and "Ihe Jmist -
which, together, report decisions in all He Cowts IN
Law and Equity, within few>Yeeks after their
delivery, were commenced Number Of 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
but little known among us.
The Subscribers propose to republican these re,
ports in full fast as they appear in England and
can DO received here. They will contain reports
of cases decided in the House Of Lords, the Privy
Council the several Courts Of Equity, the Court Of
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 Gases Reserved, and the Railway and Canal
Cases.
These reports will be published in numbers or
parts commencing with the decisions Of Michael
mas (Novomber) term, 1850, and will be carefully
edited by member of the bar, with notes and re-
fcrences to analogous American decisions.
t0fce
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 o second number will
be PACED consecutively from the Number mme-
diately preceding, and will contain table Of cases,
and Of contents to both, and thus form a complete
volume, ready for binding, of sir hundred Pdges
In each volume the 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 beat reports Of England or this
country.
It's designed to make this PERMANENT pUBII-
CATION and thus establish neto 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 tioo years before they
could otertcse be obtained, and long before the pub
LEGATION of the contemporaneous decisions OF most
of our own tribunals.
Tho price of this publication will be $40 for
twelve numbers, payable in advance, for the six
volumes, handsomely AID uniformly bound in law
sheep, $l2.
The parts will be sold separately, if desired, at
81 each.
Single volume, bound, 81 25.
Parts l. and H., stitched, or Vol. H. bound in law
sheep, containing reports OF one hundred and
eighty eight cases, now ready for delivery.
The following are among the opinions Of this
work expressed on the publication of the frat num-
ber
FtQUOre, frGSSQent
United States.
WAsHlNGToN, April 10, 1851
JAMES BRowN, ESQ.,: MY Dean SIa--Some days
since received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General, the fret number of the English Reports,
which you propose to republish in this country,
| comprising every case 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
| tercst in publicat ions of this kind. The able
ind WIN have nd ~ of
England, have shed q lustre upon tho 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 Ecclesiastical Courts and in Admiralty. For
some years had been in the habit of receiving
these in ' condes,ssd" form. This condensation,
however, consisted, not in abbreviation of each
case, but 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 'condsnsed reports" /
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some time since to republish the WHOLE
If the English Reports entire, can be republished
with despatch in this country, at price 30 low as
to bring them within the reach of the members of
the bar generally conceive that il 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
l can only express the hope that your reward may
be equal to your merits. am your obedent
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Ne,c York Literary World
Mcssrs. Little & Brown, of Boston, whose law
| books, in point of typographical execution, vie
with the best similar Issues of the English press
and in point of value and importance inferior
to none in this country, have just commenced the
publication of legal series, deserving the especial
attention of the profession throughout the country.
The basis of this series, OF which the first mum,
Der is before us, are the La,o Journal Reports and
the ywist, two English serials which communicate
to the British Bar, within few weeks after their
delivery, the prominent decisions of all the courts,
l. Ill
cy and other tribunals of limited but practically
important jurisdiction This excellent arrange
men might be followed with great advantage 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 avaling themselves OF it, to introduce the
fess|On The authority Of westminster Hail hs. lost
nothing of its sanction and the permanently high
character Of the English judiciary gives to their
adjudications continued weight and decisive in
uence with our courts. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported cases thcre have grown old
before they could be quoted and applied here, and
there was no way in which the current jurispru-
dence and adjudicatons of the day in the English
courts could be mado available by the American
bar, except at great expense and by continual vigil
lance This difficulty Msssrs. Little & Browns
Reports will remove; the cases decided in the
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 perpe,uated.
Nearly two years will thug be gained over the pre-
sent system, which requires delay until the large
volume of authorized reports is published on the
other side and has then been reprinted on this.
One advantage of the present series is, that the
decisions which it gives those of in banc
the deliberate judgments of the bench, and not the
less reliable decisions at Nisi Prius. which, how
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry
with them the same authority and force.
| The Reports are edited BY E. H. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs, of the Boston bar. and their
| systematic arran cement, and the with which
| the notes. index, &c, are prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
| be carried out.
| 10 this connection we take pleasure in adverting
to Mcssrs. Little and Browns other legal puhlica.