The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-09-29
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EOIITY.

|
TIME want Of some syste1S by which the decisions
IL and judicial opinions III the several Courts o
Law and Equity in England can be more prompt.
ly and cheaply furnished TO the legal profession in
this country, has long been seriously felt and
knowledged To meet similar want in England
the 'sLGtc Journal Reports" and "Ihe 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 are as yet
but little known among as.
The subscribers propose to republsh 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 (November) 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 octavo the best paper and
in clear fair type, and will contain table of cases,
and a full table of contents, thus forming COM
plete volume by itself, as well part Of en-
be PACED consecutvely from the number imme-
diately preceding and will contain table of cases,
and of contents to both, and thus form a complete
volume, ready for binding, of ooer sic 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 beat reports of England this
country.
CATION, and thus establish nelc 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 Hall, nearly tioo years before they
could otherwise 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, for the six
volumes, handsomely aad uniformly bound in law
sheep, $l2
The parts will be sold separately. if desired, at
S EACH
Single volume, bound, 50 %.
Parts |. 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 the publication of the first num-
Der
Letter from Hon. lfiliGrd Fillmore, President of the
United States
WAsHINeToN, April l3 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
now 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
ngand have shed lustre upon the Common
Law, and illumined its profoundest depths. | con-
slider no law library complete that does not contain
no in nd
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
case, but 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 sc condensed reports" / |
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some time since TO repubish the whole. |
If the English Reports entire, be republished |
with despatch in this country, at price so low as
70 bring them within the reach of the members of |
The bar generally, i conceive that it will confer |
great benefit upon the profession and the judiciary
md consequently upon the 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 obedent
servant, WILLARD FILLMORE.
From The Ne,u York Literary World
Messrs. Little & Brown, of Boston, whose law |
books, in point of typographical execution, vic |
with the best similar issues of the English press |
and in point of value and importance are inferior
10 none in this country, have just commenced the |
publication of legal seres deserving the especial
attention of the profession throughout the country
The basis of this series, of which the first num-
Der is before u.s. are the Ld1p Journal Reports and
the JHist, two English serials which communicate
TO the British Bar, within few weeks after their
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 mi h be followed with great advanta gre 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 awaiting Themselves of it, to introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
ession. The authority of Westminster Hall has lost
nothing OF its sanction and the permanently high
character of the English judiciary gives to their |
,djudications continued weight and decisive in |
1uence with courts. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported cases there have grown old |
before they could be quoted and applied here and |
here was no way in which the current urispru- |
1ence and adjudicatons of the day in the English |
courts could be made available by the American |
BAR except at great expense and by continual vigil
ance. This difficulty Messrs. Little s. Browns |
Reports Will remove; the cases decided in the |
Queens Bench, the Common Pleas, and the Ex-
,hequer Chamber in January, will be ready for de-
livery here in April or May, long before adjudged |
cases of the date in our own courts appear in
The regular reports in which they are perpetuated |
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 b.; hen been reprinted on this.
One advantage II the present series is that the |
decisions which II gives 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 same authority and force.
The Reports are edited by +. H. Bennett and |
Chauncy Smith, esqs., of the Boston bar and their |
systematic arrangement, and the care with which |
he notes, index, &c, are prepared, evidence the |
thorough manner in which the proposed series will |
DC carried out
In this connexion we take pleasure in adverting |
70 Messrs. Little and Browns other legal publca.
ions, among which are included many Of the most |
conspicuous and authoritative treatises of our urs
prudence. Judge Story's works, for ming a library |
almost OF themselves, and familiar for their high /
value and extensive reputation to American read |
RS in general, well to the legal profession |
nave all issued from their press; as have also the |
several works of Professor Greenleaf. Two very |
'aluable and extensive annual publications are also
ssued 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
,etter style, both for reference and preservation,
han under the old regime Of public printing at
Washington, which included the annual statutes
md sent them forth to the world on'thn paper and
n bad type.
II IL.