The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-07-21
ENGLISH REPORTS I'm LAW AND
EOlVTY

i and judicial opinions of the several Courts Of
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
ly and cheapy furnished to the legal profession in
this country, has long been seriously felt and ac-
knowledged. To meet similar want in England
the "LGiD Journal Reports" and '.1hs Jurist,' %
which, together report decisions IN all the Courts in
Lao aud 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 az yet
but little known among
The subscribers propose to republish these
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, 1885, 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 full table OF contents, thus forming a COM
| plee volume by Itself, well part of an en-
tire seresl Every alternate or second number will
| be PACED consecutively from the number iInme-
djately preceding, and will contain table Of cases,
and Of contents to both, and thus form n complete
volume, ready for binding, of t,nr ed 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.
! It's designed to make this pEHMANENr ruBLr-
| 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
| furnishto the American lawyer the decisions of
! Westminster Hall, nearly tioo years before they
could otertose be obtained and long before the pub
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 aid uniformly bound in law
sheep, $l2.
The parts will be sold separately, IL desired, at
| ST. each.
Single VOLUME, bound So %.
| Parts |. and H., stitched or Vol. L. bound in law
sheep, containing reports of one hundred and
/ eighty cases, now ready for delivery.
! The following among the opinions of this
work expressed on the publication of the first num-
! Der:
Letter from Hon. Mllard Fillmore President Of the
! United States.
WAsHINGToN, April 10, 1851.
! JAMES .BRowN, Esq; MY DEAN SIa--Some days
! since i 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 case reported in England; and
| now have your letter Of the 9th instant, inauiring
! 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. Icon
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 g condensed form. This condensation
however, consisted not in abbreviation of each
| nj a sell he ar,Al
was 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 come tfme since to repubish the whole
| If the English Reports entire, be republished
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
be equal to .your merits. l am your obedient
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From tie Netc York Literary World.
MeHsrs. 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-
the Jurfst, 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 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
w md lu 10
fession The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing of its sanction and the permanently high
character Of the English judiciary gives to their
adjudicatons continued weight and decisive in
fluence 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 way in which the current jurspru-
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 renove 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 own courts appear in
the regular reports in which they are perpctuatod
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 are those of courts in banc
the deliberate judgments of the bench, and not the
ever interesting in many instances do not carry
| with them the same authority and force.
The Reports edited by L. 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 connexion we take pleasure in adverting
to Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publica-
| tions, among which are included many of the most
conspicuous and authoritative reatses of juris-
prudence. Judge Storys works, for ming library
almost OF Themselves, and familiar for their high
| value and extensive reputation to American read
ers in general as well to the legal profession,
have all issued from their press; as 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 tho
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
From the Ns,O York EDening Post.