Page:Legal Bibliography, Numbers 1 to 12, 1881 to 1890.djvu/62

 2 SOULE'S LEGAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. Lovers of Old Books. — There must be many scholarly lawyers, scattered through all parts of the country, who have a reader's or col- lector's fondness for ancient law-books ; but, unfortunately for book- sellers, there is no list of such legal bibliophiles, and no sure way of reaching them with catalogues Will any such, who read this paragraph, send their names to Mr. Soule ? They will then receive lists, from time to time, of the kind of books in which they delight ; — and if they cannot buy, they can at least gloat over the titles. Blind Citations. — This query comes from De Soto, Missouri : "Tap- ping on Mandamus (bottom of star page io8) cites R. v. Wells, 4 D. What is '4 D.'?" By looking up R. v. Wells in the Table of Cases to Mews' Common Law Digest, it can be traced to the fourth volume of Bowling's (English) Practice Cases. One of the most accomplished law librarians in America writes, "Can you interpret the following abbreviation, found in Keble's Reports : ' I Brant, 334, etc.'?" This is a puzzler. The citation is first found on page 29 of I Keble, " i Brant, i, PI. 2," and occurs frequently afterwards, reading i Brant or 2 Brant, showing that there were two volumes or parts. The law-booksellers' catalogues, back to the year 1700, show no such book ; nor does anything of the kind appear in the catalogues of the American or English libraries, except that the library of the London Law Society has " Concilium Basiliense, 4to, 1499," by S. Brant, and the law library of Hartwell House (England) has " Titulorum omnium Juris tarn Civilis quam Canonici Expositiones, i vol., small 8vo, Lugd. 1608," by S. Brant. It hardly seems likely that Keble would cite a civil law authority. Can any one solve this puzzle ? The same librarian asks, under another date, " What does the citation ' 32 Q ' mean ? See 4th ed. Rawle on Covenants, page 320, note, last paragraph but one, second line." Who can answer this question ? Not so Inaccurate, after all. — In the last Legal Bibliography Senator Hoar was criticised for having stated "that there are but fourteen printed volumes of the decisions of the English courts before 1645 i 'ind that the whole of the statutes before the accession of James I. would not equal in bulk the laws of a single session at the present day," while there were actually twenty-eight volumes of reports, and six volumes of statutes at that date. He wishes attention called to the fact, that, taking the reports as the folio editions are usually found in lawyers' libraries, his statement was substantially correct. Thus, the Year Books are generally bound ten parts in six volumes (the first part was not then issued), and Coke, eleven parts in one volume (the twelfth and thirteenth parts did not appear until 1677). These, with Brooke, Bellewe, Dyer^ Keilway, and Hobart, and the two parts of Plowden (published separately in the first edition), would make fourteen volumes, — an inaccuracy of state- ment, to be sure, but a natural one. He also explains, that, the old statutes being printed both in French (or Latin) and in English, in par- allel columns, the six volumes are really equal to three, — not much more bulky, taken together, than some of the laws of modern sessions of Parliament. A MOST IMPORTANT LAW BOOK. Lawyers sometimes look with suspicion on favorable notices of law books in the public press, — not knowing how much is judgment and how much is "puff." But the following — from that excellent periodical, the Central Law Journal of St. Louis — bears internal evidence of being a sincere tribute, after thorough examination and use of the book : — " Wood's Railway Law. — We have not received a copy of this work from the publisher for review, and we do not owe him any duty of noticing it; but we understand that the learned author is not responsible for the neglect of the pub- lisher to send to the legal press the customary copies for notice. It is un- doubtedly the most importailt legal work that was issued during the past year. We have already used it enough to see that substantially everything relating to the law of railways, of persuasive authority in the American courts, which has been adjudicated either in England or America, is to be found in it. It is in three volumes, and we are convinced that the subject cannot be covered with sufficient detail in less than three volumes. The statements of legal doctrine are characterized by that clearness and soundness which have made the works of this writer books of standard authority in the American courts. About 12,000 cases have been cited. Of these, the leading and more important cases have been carefully analyzed and stated, either in the text or in the notes, with considerable fulness. We think it right, as a matter of news to the profession, to call attention to this very important work." Comment anlJ Commentiation* Wood on Railway Law.— Hon. Seymour D. Thompson, Judge of the St. Louis Court of Appeals, and author of some of the best law books published in our generation, writes to Mr. Wood as follows : " The more I use your book, the more I am convinced of its excellence. Indeed, it seems to have everything in it, relating to the subject which it covers. It was read yesterday in an important argument in the Court of Appeals, and I was impressed with the clearness of statement which characterized the passage read." Schouler's History of the United States. — President Oilman of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, writes thus to Mr. Schouler : " I have just completed the perusal of your third volume, and am moved to tell you how interesting and instructive I have found it. . . . The patience with which you have explored the original sources of information, the fairness with which you discuss disputed measures, and the increasing clearness and vivacity of your style, are conspicuous merits." Wood on Limitations Judicially Approved. — Green, J., in Sankey V. McClevey, 104 Penn. St. 265, in referring to the doctrine stated in this work as to the effect of the concealment of a cause of action upon the operation of the statute, says : "In the recent and very excellent work of Wood on Limitations, at p. 587, § 274, the subject of the effect of fraud on the operation of the statute of limitations is very fully and ably presented." Peters, C. J., in Baxter v. Moses (Maine S. C, Aug. 16, 1885), cites with approval from §§ 58 and 215, and says : " The doctrine could not be more satisfactorily stated." Lawyers' Reference Manual. — Hon. Wm. Lawrence (late First Comptroller of the U. S. Treasury) is kind enough to say of the Manual: " It is the best book of the kind now extant. You have rendered a great service to the profession by your admirable book." And A. B. Sharpe, Esq., of Carlisle, Pa., writes : " It is far the finest thing of the kind ever published, or rather the only careful elaborate work, in this line, ever done." Best and Abbott. — A good practising library on the law of Evidence can be bought cheap in two volumes, — Chamberlayne's Best on Evidence, and Abbott's Trial Evidence. Best is the clearest and most satisfactorily presented statement of the principles of the topic in the whole range of legal literature ; while Abbott has a remarkably copious citation of cases. The latter will suggest a case, if there is one in point ; the former will do to read to the court where cases fail, and an argument must be built up from first principles. The two volumes together cost $11.00. What to buy on Contracts? — Parsons has been the usual book on this topic, so that your next-door neighbor is pretty sure to have an edition of that book. When you buy, therefore, why not take the ex- cellent edition of Addison on Contracts recently prepared by Benja- min Vaughan Abbott? You can borrow your neighbor's Parsons, and lend him your Addison in reciprocity. Do not be imposed upon! — The last and by far the best edition of Best on Evidence is that by Chamberlayne ; and the last and best edidon of Addison on Contracts is that by Benj. Vaughan Abbott. Ingenious salesmen, however, are presenting old editions of these books, with new dates on the title-pages, as being late publicadons. Do not allow the silvery tongues of these gentlemen, and the low prices at which they can sell, to take you in, — unless you really prefer to buy old and superseded editions. Mr. Stimson's New Book — The following letter is from George Fred. Williams, Esq., widely known as the editor of the current vol- umes of the United States Digest : — " I regard Mr. Stimson's American Statute Law, just published, as one of the most valuable law books which has recently appeared. " I have frequently consulted the proofs, before publication, and it is due to the author that he be credited with skill, accuracy, and sense in the plan and execution of his work. Few lawyers can make an accurate comparative study of statutes, by reason of the intricacies of editions, revisions, indices, separate codifications, unmethodical arrangements, and imperfect references to repeals. "If practising lawyers can be induced to examine the scheme, they must pronounce this an indispensable book."