The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-06-18
ENGLISH REPoR1nfIN LAW AND
EoII4lK.

ENGLISH REpoR1nfIN LAW AND
EQUIyK.
Proposals BY LITTLE x Baows, liz Warrington
street, Boston, fer Publishing by subscriptions nesC
series Of La,D and Equity Reports.
YNHE want of some system by which the decisions
and Judicial opinions Of the several Courts OF
Law and Equity In England can be more prompt
y and cheapiy Finished to the legal profession in
this country, has long been seriously felt and ac-
knowledged. To meet similar want in England
the "LGiU Journal Rsports,'' and "IHe Jurist,'
which, together, report decisions in all the Courts in
Law and Equity, within . few weeks after their
delivery, were commenced q 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-
lation in this country, and their merits yet
but little known among us.
The Subscribers propose TO republish these re-
ports in full as fast they appear in England and
can be 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
Bankruptcy, including also the Election cases, the
Crown Cases Reserved, and the Railway and Canal
Cases.
These reports will be published in numbers OF
parts, commencing with the decisions Of Michael
mas (Noycmber) term, 1850, and will be carefully
edited by member of the bar, with notes and re-
fercnces to analogous American decisions
Each number will consist of over three hundred
pages closely printed octave 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 en-
tire series. Every alternate or second number will
be PACED consecutively from the number imme-
diatey preceding, and will contain table of cases.
and of contents to both, and thus form q complete
volume, ready for binding Of over hundyed pages
In each volume the of the several courts will
-, k<xf~
and typographical execution, this series will be
fully equal to the best reports OF England or this
country.
Itis designed to make this pERMANENr PUBL
CATION, and thus establish series Of English
Law and Equity Reports, which shall, in all re-
spects, be far III advance of any other reprint Of
English Reports in this country, and which shall
furnish to the American lawyer the decisions OF
Westminster Hail. nearly tioo gears before they
could othsroise be obtained and long before tho pub
LEGATION OF the contemporaneous decisions of 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 and uniformly bound in law
sheep, $l2.
The parts will be sold separately, if 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 this
work expresscd On the publication Of the first mum.
Letter from Hon. Millard Fillmore, President of the
United States.
WAsHiNGToN, April ID, 1851.
JAMES BRowN, ESQ.,: My Dean SIR--Somc days
since received, by the hand of the Postmaster
which you propose to republican in this country,
comprising every case reported in England; and l
now have your letter of the 9th instant inquiring
my opinion ofthe enterprise.
L.
tercst in publications of this kind. The able
Judges who have adorned the judicial tribunals Of
England, have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumned 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 y condtnssd' form. This condemnation,
however, consisted not in an abbreyiation of each
Gaze, 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 "condsnssd reports" l
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some time since to republish the whole.
If the English Reports entire, can be republishcd
with despatch in this country, at price so low
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
y
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE
= From the Ne,o York Literary World
Messrs. Little s. 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 are 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 num-
Der is before u.s. are the La,o Journal Reports and
the JUist. 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
ment might be followed with great advantagei 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 glad to see the enterprise of our legal pub
lshers awaiting themselves of it, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fcssion. The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing of its sanction; and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives to their
adjudications a continued weight and decisive in
fiuence 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 no way in which tho current iurispru-
dcnce and adjudications of the day in the English
courts could be made available by the American
bar, except at great expense and by continual vig
lance. This difficulty Messrs Little & Browns
Reports will removes the cases decided in the
Queens Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Elk
chequer Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here in April or May, long before adjudged
cases of the same date in our own courts appear in
the regular reports in which they are perpetuatcd.
Nearly two years will thus be gained over the pre-
sent system, which requires delay until the large
volume of authorized reports 10 published on the
other side and has then been reprinted on this
One advantage Of the present series is, that the
decisions which it gves those of courts 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 edited by E. II. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs., of the Boston bar. and their
systematic arrangement, and the care with which
the notes, index, &C., arc prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposcd series will
be carried out.
In this connexion we take pleasure in adverting
to Mcssrs Little and Browns other legal publica.