The republic., 1851-08-06
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
En VTITX

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 &C
knowledged. To meet a similar want in England,
the "Laio Journal Reports" and "Ihs Jtyist,"
which, together, report decisions in all The Courts IA
LGD and Equity, within few weeks after their
delivery, were commenced a number of years
since, and have met with the universal approba-
tion of the legal profession Their bigh cost, how
ever, has hitherto prevented their general circu-
lation in this country, and their merits are yet
but little known among US.
The subscribers propose to republish these re-
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 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, $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, well part of an
tire series Every alternate or second number will
be paged consecutively from the number imme-
and of contents TO both, and thus form complete
volume, ready for binding, of sT 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.
ltis designed to make this PERMANENT PUBLI-
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 tico years before they
could olertoise be obtained and long before the pub
cation 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, il desired, at
81 each.
Single volume, bound, So 25.
Parts l. 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 expressed on the publication of the first num-
ber:
Letter from Hon. lIiilard Fillmore, President of The
United States.
WAsHINGToN, April l3, 1851.
JAMES BRowN, ESQ.,: My DEAR SIn-Some days
since | received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General, the first number of the English Reports,
WnlCn you propose 10 repuDnsn IN Lnl5 country,
comprising every case 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 it's 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 a 80 condensed" form. This condemnation,
however, consisted, not in an abbreviaton of each
caae, but a selection from the several cases, and
was often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Digests, which i deemed very important
wholly omitted in the " condensed reports"
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made SOM time since to republish the whole
If the English Reports entire, be republshed
with despatch in this country, at price 80 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
be equal to your merits. | am your obedent
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Netc 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 seres 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 Jurist, 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 advantage in this
country, for the purpose of obviating the delay
WI ne nj he q on
lar volumes of reports of particular courts and
are glad to the enterprise Of our legal pub
fishers avaling 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
adiudicatons a continued weight and decisive in
iuence 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 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 vigil
lance This difficulty Messrs. Little s. Browns
Reports will remove; the cases 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 came date in our 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 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 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, are prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
be carried out.
In this connexion take pleasure in adverting
to Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publica-
tions, among which included many of the most
conspicuous and authoritative treatises of our uris
prudence. Judge Story's works, for. ming library
almost of themselves, and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation to American read
ers in general, well to the legal profession,
have all issued from their press; have also the
several works of Professor Greenleaf. Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications are 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 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.