The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-01-31
ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
Equity.

ENGLISH REPORTS IN LAW AND
EQUITY.
Proposal. BY LATHE & Bnows, ~ Washington
street, Boston, for publishing by subscription neip
series Of Laio aud Equity Reports
| TJNHE want of some system by which the decisions
| i and judicial opinions of the several Courts OF
law and Equity in England can be more prompt
y and cheaply furnished To the legal profession IA
this country, has long been seriously felt and &C
knowledged. TO meet a similar want in England
the "L.aD Journal Reports" and "1he Juisf,
which, together, report decisions in auth Courts IN
I.aD aud Equity, within few weeks alter their
delivery, were commenced number OF years
snce, and have met with the universal approba-
ton Of the legal profession Their high cost, how
ever, has hitherto prevented their general circu-
iation in this country, and their merits are as yet
but little known among US.
The subscribers propose to repuollsh these re,
ports in full as fast as they appear in England ana
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.
Thcsc 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 ana
in clear, fair type and will contain table of cases.
and full table of contents, thus forming COM
plcte volume by itself, we'll as part OF an en-,
tire series. Every alternate OF second number VIII
be pa ged consecutively from the number llnine-
diateIy preceding, and will contain table OF cases,
and Of contents to both, and thus form complete
volume ready for binding of orer sin hundred pages
In each volume the cases of the several courts "i
/ -, rxolt fhnr and
and typographical execution, this series Will be
fully equal to the best reports OF England or this
country.
It's designed to make this rERmANENr PUBL
CATION, and thus establish nep series OF English
Law and Equity Reports, which shall, In all re-
spects, be far in advance OF any other reprint 81
English Reports in this country, and which shall
furnish to the American lawyer the decisions Of
Westminster Hall, nearly too years before they
could otherwise be obtained and long before the pub
lication of the contemporancous 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
s. each.
Single volume, bound, So 25.
Parts l. and H., stitched, or Vol. H. bound IN law
sheep, containing reports OF one hundred and
q ghty eight cases, now ready Tor delivery.
The following are among the opinions OF this
york expressed on the publication OF the first num-
DER:
Letter from Hon. Millard Fillmore, President of the
United States.
WAsHINeroN, April Is 1851.
JAMES BaowN ESQ: MY DEAa SIR-Some days
nnce ] 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.
lie m DrOf 0eeD 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 illumined its prooundest depths. con-
slider no law library complete that does not contain
their principal reports in Law and Equity, and in
tbrir Ecclesiastical Courts, and in Admiralty For
some years bad been in the habit Of receiving
these in "a 90 condensed" form. The condensation,
however, consisted, not in an abbreviation of each
case, but selection from the several cases. and
was often annoyed by finding reference to
in the Digests, which | deemed very important,
wholly omitted in the "condsnssd reports"
therefore hailed with great pleasure an effort which
made some time since to republish the whole.
II the English Reports entire, be rcpublished
with despatch in this country, at price 80 low
to 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 couatry 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 g.e Neio York Literary JVorld
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 inferior
to none in this country, have just commenced the
publication Of a 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 Lap Journal Reports and
the ygist 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 night be followed with great advantage in uiis
country, for the purpose OF obviating the delay
which necessarily attends the issuing of the rcgu-
lar volumes OF reports Of particular courts !; and
VIC arc glad 10 see the enterprise of our legal pub
ishers avaling themselves OF 1t, To introduce the
English Reports promptly and regularly to the pro-
fession The authority Of Westminster Hall has ost
nothing Of lie sanction and the permanently high
character OF the English judiciary gives 10 their
adjudications continued weight and decisive in
auence with courts. Hitherto the difficulty has
been that the reported cases there have grown old
before they could be quoted and applied mere, aud
there was way in which the current iurispru-
dcnco and ndjudiCations 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 Mcssrs. Little Browns
Reports will remove; the cases decided in the
Queens Bench, the Common Plras, and the EI.
chequcr Chamber in January, will be ready for dc.
livery here in April or May, long before adjudged
cases OF the same date in courts appear in
the regular reports in which they arc 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 on the
other side and has then been reprinted on this.
One advantage Of the present series ia that the
decisions which Il gives are those Of courts in bdno
the deliberate judgments Of the bench, and the
less reliable decisions at Nisi Pri,s, which how
ever interesting in many instances, do not carry
with them the same authority and force.
The Reports edited by +. n Bennett and
Chauncy Smith, esqs., Of the Boston bar, and their
systematic arrangement, and the care with which
the notes, index, &c, are prepared evidence tho
thorough manner in which the proposed series will
be carried out.
In this connerion we take pleasure ia advcrtng
10 Mcssrs Little aud Browns other legal publica
tons among which are included many Of the most
conspic uous and authoritative rcascs Of our juris
prudence. Judge story's woeks, for ming library