The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-08-21
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
Al

fToposass Oy LITTLE BROWN, liz WGshlnSt0n
street, Boston, for publishing by subscription
series Of LatO and Equity Reports
TIME 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 10 the legal profession in
this country, has long been seriously felt and
knowledged. To meet similar want in England,
the "LGio Journal Reports" and s1hs JlIist,''
which, together, report decisions In all the Courts an
Lao and Equity, within few weeks 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-
lation in this country, and their merits as yet
but little known among us.
The subscribers propose to republish these re-
ports in full as fast as they appear in England and
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 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-
ferences TO analogous American decisions.
Each number will consist of three hundred
pages closely printed octave, the best paper, and
in clear, fair type and will contain table of cases,
and a full table OF contents, thus forming COM
tire series Every alternate or second number will
be PACED consecutively from the number imme-
djately preceding and will contain table OF cases,
and of contents to both, and thus form complete
volume, ready for binding, of sir hundred pages.
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 best reports of England or this
country.
Its designed to make this PERMANENT PUBL
CATION, and thus establish ne,u series of English
Law and Equity Reports, which shall, in all
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 ttoO years before they
could otherwise be obtained, and long before the 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 aad uniformly bound in law
sheep, $l2.
The parts will be sold separately il desired, at
S. each.
Single volume, bound, So %.
Parts and H., stitched, or Vol. l., bound in law
sheep, containing reports of hundred and
eighty eight cases, now ready for delivery.
The following are among the opinions Of this
work expressed on the publication of the first num-
Der:
Letter from Hon. Willard Fillmore, President of The
United States.
WAsHMeToN, April ID, 1851.
JAMES BRowN, ESQ: MY DEAR SIR-Sone days
since | received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General, the first number OF the English Reports,
which you propose to republish in this country,
comprising every reported in England; and
now have your letter of the 9th instant, inquirng
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
thprr Drln NIL nnrta in, Inv md unity npdp
their Ecclesiastical Courts, and in Admiralty. For
some years had been in the habit of receiving
these in " condensed form. This condensation,
however, consisted, not in abbreviation of each
case, but selection from the several cases, and
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 effort which
was made some time since to republish the whole.
If the English Reports entire, be republshed
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, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From The Ne,v York Literary IVorld.
Messrs Little s. Brown, of Boston, whose law
books, in point of typographical execution, vie
with the best similar issues of the English press,
ana IN point OF Valuc and importance arc inferior
to none in this country, have just commenced the
publication of n 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 us, the La,o Journal Reports and
the J.rist, 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 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
fishers availing themselves of it, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fession The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing Of its sanction and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives to their
adjudications continued weight and decisive in
fluence with our courts. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported cases there have grown old
before they could be quoted and applied here, and
there way in which the current urispru-
dence and adjudications of the day in the English
courts could be made available by the American
bar, except at great expense and by continual vigil
lance. This difficulty Messrs. Little & 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 our courts appear in
the regular reports in which they are perpetuated.
Nearly two years will thus be gained over the pre-
volume of authorized reports s 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 courts in bac,
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. H. 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 conncxion we take pleasure in adverting
to Messrs. Little and Browns other legal pubca-
tons, among which are included many Of the most
conspicuous and authoritative treatises Of jurs-
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ming n library
almost OF themselves, and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation to American read
in general, we'll to the legal profession,
have all issued from their press; as have also the
aeveral works OF Professor Greeneaf. Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications also
issued by them, the United States Digest and the
Statutes at Large; the latter being the authorized
edition OF the Acts of Congress, got up in much
better stylc, both for reference and Dreservation