The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-11-26
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND


Pycposals 6y LITTLE & BRowS, ll2 Washington
siret Boston for publishing by subscription neto
series of Lam and Equity Reports
TE7HE 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
~ and cheapy furnished TO the legal profession In
this country, has long been seriously felt and &C
Lpowledged To meet a similar want in England,
the "LaIo Journal Reports" and 'The JtHist,
which, together report decisions in all The Courts IN
Lao and 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 are as YET
but little known among US. -
The subscribers propose to republlsh these re-
ports in full as fast they appear IN England ana
can be received here. They will contain reports
of cases decided in the House of Lords, the PrlVy
Council the several Courts of Equity, the Court oil
Queens Bench, the Court of Common Pleas, the
C,ourt of Excheuuer and Exchequer Chamber, the
FccIesiastical and Admiralty Courts, the Court OF
Bankruptcy including also the Election cases, the
Crown Cases Reserved and the Railway and Canal
THESE REPORTS will be published in numbers or
parts, commencing with the decisions OF Michael
mas fNovember) term, 1850, and will be carefully
edited by member OF the bar with notes ana re-
ferences to analogous American decisions
Each number will consist of over three hundred
pages closely printed octave, on the best ana
in clear fair type and will contain table Oh cases'
and full table of contents, thus forming com
pete volume by itself, well ms part OF an en-
tire series. Every alternate or second number VIII
be PACED consecutively from the number lInhe-
diately preceding, and will contain table OF cases,
and of con tents to both, and thus form complete
volume ready for binding OF oUer sir hundred pages
In each volume the cases of the several courts VIII
be found arranged together, and IN point oil style
and Typographical execution, this series Will be
fully equal to the best reports OF England OF TINS
country.
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 oil
English Reports in this country, and which shall
furnish to the American lawyer the decisions OF
Westminster Hall, nearly tico years before they
could oertose be obtained and long before the pub
LEGATION 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 and uniformly bound IN law
sheep, $l2.
The parts will be sold separately, il desired, at
ST. 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 first num-
Letter from Hon ATillard Fillmore, President Of the
United States
WAsnIHGToN, April 10 1851.
JAMES BRowN 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,
comprising every case reported In England; and
have your letter OF the 9Th instant, lnqulrlng
nv 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 illuTnined 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 condensed form This condensation,
however, consisted, not in an abbreviation of each
Gaze 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 " condensed reports"
therefore hailed with great pleasure an effort which
was made some tlme since to repubsh the whole.
If the English Reports entire, can be republished
with despatch in this country, at price SO low as
10 bring them within the reach of the members of
the bar generally, conceive that 1t 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. am your obedient
servant WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Ne,o York Literary IVorld.
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 mum
Der is before US, the Lac Journal Reports and
the Jtrist 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
ment might be followed with great advantagei 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 are glad to the enterprise of our legal pub
fishers avaing themselves Of it, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fession. The authority Of Westminster Hail has lost
nothing of its sanction and the permanently high
charaser OF the English Judiciary gives to their
authorizations continued weight and decisive in
huence 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 jurspru-
dence and authorizations 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 May, long before adjudged
cases Of the same date in our own courts appear in
the regular reports in which they perpetuatcd.
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 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
less reliable decisions at Nisi Prius, which, how
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry
with them the came authority and force.
The Reports edited by E. IL. Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs, 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 we take pleasure in adverting
TO Messrs Little and Browns other legal pubca-
tions, among which are included many the most
conspicuous and authoritative treatses of our urs
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ming library
almost Of themselves, and familiar for their high
value and extensive reputation TO American read
in general, well as 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 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,