The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-12-24
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
gOVTVVV

| Proposals by Little & BRowE, ll2 Washington
street, Boston, for publishing b subscription
series Of Laao aud Equity Reports.
yINHE want of some system by which the decisions
| l. 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 "LGto Journal Reports" aud ''Ths JuTist,"
which, together report decisions in all the Courts i
LdtD and Equity, within a few weeks after their
delivery, 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 ciTcu-
iation in this country, and their merits are as yet
but little known among US.
The Subscribers propose to republish these re.
ports in full fast they appear IN England and
can be received here. They will contain reports
of cases decided in the House of Lords, the Priyy
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
1 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, 1889, 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, the best paper, and
in clear, fair type, and will contain table of case,
and full table of contents, thus forming a
plete volume by itself, as well part of an
tire series. Every alternate second number will
be PACED consecutively from the number imme-
diately preceding, and will contain table of cas-
and Of contents TO both, and thus form complete
volume ready for binding, of oUe sac hundred pages.
In each volume the cases 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.
! tits designed to make this u PERMANENT PUBL
CATION, and thus establish 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 Hail. nearly tlDo gears before they
could otherwise be obtained and long before the pub
lication of the contenporaneous decisions of most
of our own tribunals
The price of this publication will be $40 for
twelve numbers, payable in advance, for the six
volumes, handsomely and uniformly bound in law
sheep, 9l2
The parts will be sold separately il desired, at
i each
Single volume bound, So 25
Parts l. and H., stitched, or Vol J.. 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-
Letter from Hon. Afillard Fillmore, President of The
United States.
WAsHNaToN, April ID 1851.
JAMES BRowN, ESQ: My DEAR SIR-Some days
since ] received, by the hand OF the Postmaster
General, the frat number of the English Reports,
which you propose to republish in this 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 ustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined its 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 condensed" form, This condensation
however, consisted, not in an abbreviaton Of each
case, but a selection from the several cases. and
was often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Digests, which deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the 90 condrnSed reports.' |
therefore hailed with great pleasure an effort which
was made some time since to republish the whole.
If the English Reports entire, can be republished
with despatch in this country, at price 80 low as
to bring them within the reach of the members of
the bar generally, conceive that it will confer a
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 Neto York Literary JVorid.
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
attention of the profession throughout the country.
The basis of this series, of which the first num-
Der is before US, are the Ldlo Journal Reports and
the JtHist, 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
W, aud oher trihnnals of limited but practically
important jurisdiction. This excellent arrange |
ment might be followed with great adyana 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 are 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
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 no way in which the current jurispru-
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 removes 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 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 OF tNe present series ID, tnat the 4
decisions which it gives those of courts in banc
the deliberate judgments of the BENCH and not the
less reliable decisions at Nisi Priis, which, how
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry |
with them the same authority and force.
The Reports are edited by L. ii. Bennett and |
Chauncy Smith, esqs., of the Boston bar, and their
SystenGtic 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 connection we take pleasure in advertng
to Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publica-
tons, among which are included many of the most |
conspicuous and authoritative treatises of our urs
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ming library |
almost Of themselves, and familiar for their high |
value and extensiye reputation To American read |
era in general, well to the legal profession, |
have all issued from their pressj have also the |
several works of Professor Greenleaf. 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 style, both for reference and preservation,
than under the old regime of public printing al |