The republic., 1851-10-27
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
no TTWmN

Il and judicial opinions Of the several Courts of
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt
" 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,
I the "LGio Journal Reports" and "Ihe Jlgist, !"
winch, together, report decisions IN all The Courts IN
/ LGD and Equity, within few weeks after their
delivery, were commenced a 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 yet
but little known among u.s.
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 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 (Noyember) term, 1850, 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 cases.
and full table OF contents, thus forming COM
plete volume by itself, well as part OF an en-
tire series, Every alternate or second humber will
be PACED consecutively from the number imme-
diatey preceding, and will contain table OF cases.
volume, ready for binding, of Ouer sir 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.
Itis designed to make this a 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
could Othrtcise be obtained and long before the pub
licaton 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, $l2
The parts will be sold separately, il desired at
y each
Single volume, bound, 50 25.
Parts IL and H., stitched, or Vol l., bound in law
sheep, containing reports of 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
ber:
Letter from, Hon. Dfillard Fillmore, President of the
United States.
WAsHINGToN, April l3 1851.
JAMES BRowN, ESQ.,: My DEAR SIa-Some days
since ! received, by the hand of the Postmaster
General, the first number of the English Reports,
which you propose to repubsh 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
/ tcrest in publications of this kind The able
judges who have adorned the judicial tribunals of
England, have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and lllumlned 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 condensed'' form. This condensation,
however, consisted, not in an abbreviation of each
case, but selection from the several cases, and
was often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Dgeste, which ! deemed very important.
wholly omitted in the condensed reports'' ]
therefore hailed with great p,easure effort which
was made some time since to rcpubsh 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
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 obedent
servant, MiLLARD FILLMORE.
From the Ne,o York Literary TVorld
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 series, deserving the especial
attention OF the profession throughout the country
The basis of this series, of which the first mum
Der is before US, the La,o Journal Reports and
the Jtpist, 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
nent might 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
are glad to the enterprise of our legal pub
] lIah linz nllnl nff ,t,tr
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
iesson. The authority Of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing OF its sanction and the permanently high
character of the English judiciary gives to their
udjudications a continued weight and decisive in
lluence 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 lurispru-
dence and adjudcations 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 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 adludgcd
cases of the same date in courts appear in
the regular reports in which they perpctuated.
Nearly two years will thus be gained over the pre-.
sent system, which requires delay until the large
volume of authorized reports is published the
other side and tien been reprinted on this.
One advantag~ II the present series is that the
decisions which i, gives those of courts in 6anc
the deliberate Judgments OF the DenCh, ana not the
less reliable deciaions 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, csqs., of the Boston bar and their
systematic arrangement, and the care with which
/ the notes, index, &c, 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 pubca-
tons, among which are included many ofthe most
conspicuous and authoritative treatscs of our uris-
prudence Judge Sory's works, for ming a library
almost Of themselves, and familiar for their high
| value and extensive reputation 10 American read
ers in general, as we'll 20 the legal profession
have ali issued from their press; as have also the
! several works OF Professor Greenleaf Two very
valuable and extensive annual publications arc 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
From The Netc York Erening Post
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