The republic., 1851-07-11
ENGLISH HEPoRrs IN LAW AND

EQUITY.
Proposals by LITTLE & BRows, ll2 IVashingion
street, Boston, forYu5iishiHg by subscription a
series Of Laio and Equity Reports.
TTNHE want of some system by which the decisions
4 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
knowledged. To meet similar want in England,
the "Lat0 Journal Reports" and 60 The Jlpisf."
which, together, report decisions in all The Courts In
Ian and Equify, within few weeks after their
delivery, were commenced a number of years
since, and have met with the universal approha-
tion Of the legal profession Their high cost, how
ever, has hitherto prevented their general crcu-
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 as they appear in England and
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, tire
Court of Exchequer and Exchequcr 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 (Noyember) 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 octave, the best paper and
n
and full table of contents, thus forming a com
pete volume by itself, as well as a part Of an en-
tire series Every alternate or second number will
be PACED consecutiveiy from the number mme-
dately preceding, and will contain table of cases.
and of contents 10 both and thus form a complete
volume, ready for binding, of sr hundred pagcs
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.
Itis designed to make this a PERMANENT pUDLr-
CATION, and thus establish series of English
Law and Equity Rcports, 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 tip0 gCarS before th6Y
lication 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, s. IL.
The parts will be sold separately, If desired, at
s. each.
Single volume bound, So 20.
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 fret num-
Der:
Letter from Hon. 1filiard Fillmore, President Of the
United States
WAsHINGToN, April 10, 1851.
JAMES BRowa, 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 to republish in this country,
every case reported in England; and |
now have your letter of the 9th instant, nquiring
my opinion of the enterprise
While pursuing my profession, took deep in
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 illumined its proioundest depths. con
slider 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 III - condensed" form. This condensation,
however, consisted, not IN an abbrevaton of each
Gaze, but selection from the several cases, and
was often annoyed by finding reference to CAGES !
in the pigess, which ] deemed very important |
wholly omitted in the "coadeased reports.7 |
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some time since TO rCpubsh the whole !
If the English Reports entire, can be repubhshed |
with despatch IN this country, at price so low as
10 bring them Within the reach of the members of |
-he bar generally conceive THAT it win confer a
great benehr upon the profession and the judiciary
md consequently uponth country at large. Know
ng your enterprise, anticipate your success and |
can only eXpress the hope that your reward may |
De equal TO your merits. am your obedienl /
servant, MlLLARD FILLMORE.
From hs Nero York Literary JJorid
Messrs. Little & Brown, Of Boston, whose law |
books, in point of typographical execution, vie |
VITA 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 e5pcca!
attention Of the profession throughout the country
The basis oil this series, of which the first mum
Der is before u.s. the i4dtp Journal Reports and |
the Jtuist, 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
fi.nst t-,trt IL, gFl II
important jurisdiction. This excellent arrange.
mt mt night 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 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-
iession. The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing of its sanction and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives TO their |
adjudcations continued weight and decisive in.
huence 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 was no way in which the current iurispru- |
dence and adjudlcations of the day in the English
courts could be made available by the American |
bar, except at great expense and by continual yipi
lance. This difficulty Messrs. Little & Browns |
Reports will remove; the cases decided in the |
Queens Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Ex
chcquer Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here i'll April May, long before adiudgcd
cases of the date in our own courts appear in
the regular reports in which they perpetuated
Nearly two years will thus be gained 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
decisons which gives those of courts in bdnc
the deliberate judgments of the bench, and not the
less reliable decisions at Nisi PriliS which, how
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry
with them the same authority and force.
The Reports edited by H. II. Bennett and |
Chauncy Smith, esqs of the Boston bar, and their
Systematic arrangement, and the care with which I
the notes, index, &c, prepared, evidence the
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
be carried out
IN this connexion We take pleasure in advorting
to Mcssrs. Little and Browns other legal publica
tions, among which are included many ofthe most
conspicuous and authoritative reatses Of our uris
prudence Judge Storys works, forming q library
almost OF themselves, and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation TO American read
crs in general, well to the legal profession
have all issued from their press have also the
several works of Professor Grconleaf. 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 tho old regime of public printing at