The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1851-05-28
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
E0UITY.

ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EQUITY.
Proposals by LITTLE & BRows, liz Washington
street, Boston, for publishing BY subscription nsso
series Of Laso and Equity Reports.
TINE want of some system by which the decisions
i and judicial opinions Of the several Courts OF
Law and Equity in England can be moro prompt
y 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" and "Ihs Jurisf,'
which, together, report decisions in all the Courts ia
LGD 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 yet
but little known among u.s.
The subscribers propose TO republish these re-
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, tho Court Of
Queens Bench, the Court Of Common Pleas, the
Court of Exchcquer and Exchcquer 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 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, as well as part OF an en-
tire series. Every alternate second number will
be PACED consecutively from the number imme-
diatey preceding, and will contain table Of cases,
and Of contents to both, and thus form complete
volume, ready for binding, Of ouer si1 bundled 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
ft1I In he bea al IN Or
country.
ltis designed to make this 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 Hall, nearly t,co years before they
could otherwise be obtained and long before the pub
LEGATION of the contcmporaneous decisions of most
sof 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, III.
Tie parts will be sold separately, if desired. at
81 each.
Single volume bound, So %.
Parts /. and H., stitched, Vol. l.. bound in law
sheep, containing reports of ono hundred and
eighty eight cases, now ready for delivery.
The following are among the opinions Of this
work expressed on the publication Of the fret num-
bcr:
United States.
WAsHISaToN, April 10, 1851.
JAMES BaowN, 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, inquiring
my opinion of the enterprise
While pursuing my profession, took deep in
tcrest in publications Of this kind. The able
rhoh lfrsb nf
England, have shed lustre 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 abbreviation of each
case, but selection from the several cases, and
was often annoyed by finding reference to cases
in the Digcsts. which deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the "condsnsed reports"
therefore hailed with great pleasure effort which
was made some time since to rcpublisiI the whole.
If the English Reports entire, be republishcd
with despatch in this country, at a price 30 low
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
ing your enterprise, anticipate your success, and
! can only express the hope that your reward may
be equal TO your merits. ! am your obedicnt
aervant WILLARD FILLMORE.
From the Ne,o York Literary Horld.
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 num-
Der is before US, the LatO Journal Reports and
the Jurist, two English serials which communicate
to the British Bar, within few weeks after their
delivery, the prominent decision9 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 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 are glad to sect enterprise OF our legal pub
fishers ayailing themselves Of ii, TO introduce the
English Reports promptly ana regularly e the pro-
nothing Of it's sanction and the permanently high
character Of the English judiciary Rivcs 10 their
adjudications continued weight and decisive in
iluence with our 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 tho current inrispru
dencc and adjudfcatipns Of the d in the English
courts could be made available by the American
par except at great expense and BY continual vigi
lance. This difficulty Messrs. Little & Browne
Reports will remove; the casos 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 ore perpetuated
Nearly two years will thua be gained DIVER the pre-
cent system, which requires delay until the large
volume of authorized reports 10 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
less reliable decisions at Nisi Prius, which, how.
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry
The Reporte are edited By +. H. 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