The republic., 1851-10-29
ENGLISH REPORTS IN Law AND
Equity.

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 "LGiu Journal Reports" and "Ihe Jt1ist,"
which, together report decisions in all the Courts IA
Lalo aud Equify, within lew weeks after their
delivery, were commenced number of years
since and have met with the universal approba-
tion of the legal profession. Their high 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 fast as they appear in England and
can be received here. They will contain reports
I 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 Exchequcr 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
! 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 TO analogous American decisions.
| Each number will consist of over three hundred
pages closely printed octavo 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 en-
tire series. Every alternate second number will
be paged consecutivey from the number imme-
diately preceding and will contain table of cases,
and of contents to boh and thus form complete
volume ready for binding, of oUer siI 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 10 the best reports OF England or this
country.
ltis designed to make this PERMANENT PUBLI-
CATION, and thus establish neio series of English
Law and Equity Reports which shall, in all re-
apects, 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 tiro years before they
could otsrtoise be obtained and long before the pub
lication of the contemporaneou5 decisions of most
of our own tribunals.
The price of this publication will be y 10 for
twelve numbers, payable in advance, or for the six
volumes handsomely and uniformly bound in law
sheep, Sl2.
The parts will be sold separately, il desired, al
81 each.
Single volume, bound, So 25.
Parts i. 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. DfIard Fillmore, President of the
United States.
WAsHrNoToN, April l3 1851.
JAMES BRowS, ESQ: My DEAR SIR--Some DAYS
since received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General the first number of the English Reports,
which you propose 10 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.
/ 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 proioundest 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 " condensed form. This condemnation,
however, consisted, not in abbrevation of each
case, but a selection from the several cases, and
was often annoyed by finding a reference TO cases
in the Digests, which deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the " condensed reports" I
therefore hailed with great p. .easure effort which
made some time since to republish the whole.
II the English Reports entire, be republishcd
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 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
can only express the hope that your reward may
be equal To your merits. ! your obedient
servant MILLARD FILLMORE.
From hs Neic York Literary U'orid.
Messrs. 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 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 Lao Journal Reports and
4 the Jmist, 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.
men might be followed with great advanta in This
country, for the purpose Of obyiating the delay
4 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
la
fession The authority Of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing of its sanction and the permanently high
I character OF the English judiciary gives to their
adiudications a continued weight and decisive in.
fuencc with courts. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported cases there nave crown old
before they could be quoted and applied here, and
there way III which the current iurispru-
dence and adludicatons OF the day in the English
courts could be made available by the American
bar, except at great expense and by continual vigi
lance. This difficulty Messrs. Little & Browns
Reports will remove; the cesos decided in the
Queens Bench, the Common Riras, and the EH.
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 arc perpetuated
Nearly two years will thus be gained over the pre-.
sent system, which requires a delay until the large
volume of authorized reports is published on the
other side and h hen been reprinted on this.
One advantag. II the present series is, that the
decisions which Il gives those of courts in bdnc
the deliberate judgments Of the BENCH and not the
less reliable decisions at plsi Prill, which, how
ever interesting in many Instances, do not carry
with them the same authority and force,
The Reports edited by T.. ii. Bennett aud
Chauncy Smith, esqs, OF the Boston bar, and their
systematic arrangement, and the care with which
the notes, index, &c, are prepared. ovidc..,c the
thorouGh mann~. wnch the proposed series will
he carried out,
In this oonnexlon VIC take pleasure IN advering
TO Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publica
tions, among which arc included many of the nost
conspicuous and authoritative trcatiscs Of our juris
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 10 the legal profession,
have all issued from their press; have ALEC 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 al 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 aent them forth TO the world on thin paper and
in bad type.
From ihs Mem York EpeufnR Posi-