Page:Legal Bibliography, Numbers 1 to 12, 1881 to 1890.djvu/98

 4 SOULE'S LEGAL BIBLIOGRAPHY. JONES'S INDEX TO LEGAL PERIODICALS. This month (February, iS88) is published this extremely valuable aid to the investigation of legal topics. Hitherto a great number of excellent monographs on subjects not fully treated in the text-books, and con- tributed to different law journals by good lawyers, have been inaccessible to the profession because there was no way to trace them out. Mr. Jones has opened up this field in his Index. His preface so fully de- scribes the book that it is here quoted at length : — " I have attempted in this Inde. to refer to the articles relating to matters of law and legislation contained in the whole body of periodical literature in the English language published prior to January, 1887. To this end I have included references to the articles, papers, correspondence, annotated cases, and biograph- ical notices in the legal journals of America, England, Scotland, Ireland, and tl.e English Colonies; and to such articles in the principal literary reviews and magazines of these countries as seemed to belong properly to legal literature. I have also included references to the papers and proceedings of the American Bar Association, and of the various State Bar Associations ; and also references to such of the papers and transactions of the English and American Social Science Associations, and of the Statistical Society, as seemed to come within the scope of this Index. " I have given much attention to references to biographical articles relating to distinguished judges and lawyers, both living and deceased. Accordingly, such notices in all the journals and reviews, which seemed to be of value, even when brief, have been referred to. Moreover, all the reports of the American Courts, some three thousand volumes, have been examined volume by volume, in order to make references to the proceedings in court and eulogies upon the occasion of the decease of eminent judges and lawyers. Generally, in references to biographical notices, the date of the birth and of the death (of deceased per- sons) is given after the names, thus serving to identify those referred to, and at the same time to afford in the Index itself this item of information. " For the means of finding the articles relating to law and legislation in the literary periodicals published prior to 1882, I am much indebted to Mr. Poole's admirable Index ; but all these articles have been examined in the periodicals themselves, in making the references in the present Inde.x ; and some of the principal reviews and magazines have been examined throughout, to select the articles referred to. " The names of the authors of the articles indexed have been given whenever they could be ascertained. To obtain the name-- of authors of articles which had appeared anonymously in the law journals, I sent circulars of inquiry to many legal authors, and to the editors of law journals, and received numerous replies. I regret, however, that the titles of so many articles appear without their authors' names. " One hundred and fifty-eight different law journals and reviews have been indexed ; and also the articles relating to matters of law and legislation, and to biographies of judges and lawyers, in one hundred and thirteen of the principal .•merican, British, and Colonial literary magazines and reviews. The number of volumes of law periodicals indexed is 1,373 ; and the articles pertaining to law and legislation in upwards of 4,400 volumes of literary and historical periodicals are also included. " Of course the editor has been obliged to use his discretion in selecting the articles to be indexed from the periodicals which publish many short articles. In many instances brief articles have been referred to because they seemed to be of value, while others of sufficient length to be referred to have been omitted because they seemed to be of merely temporary or local interest. It was thought better, however, to err by including unimportant articles than to err in omitting those of value. •' I commenced this work with the conviction that a great store of papers and articles was hiddeii and neglected in the legal journals and reviews which could be made valuable to lawyers and legislators by an index. Now, at the comple- tion of the work, after a hasty examination of the whole mass of this literature, I am more impressed with its practical usefulness. Many minor topics of the law, which are wholly neglected or only briefly treated in the text-books, are often fully and exhaustively treated in the legal journals by able lawyers. The list of Authors of Articles shows that the great mass of the contributions to these periodicals has been made by lawyers and judges who are not authors of text-books, and who have not published their articles in any other form. I wish particularly to call attention to the valuable papers published by the various Bar Associations and by the Social Science Associations." As the sale of Jones's Index will be confined to those lawyers who have large libraries and e.xtensive practice, it cannot be so large as that of an ordinary text-book and report ; and the price, to cover cost, must therefore be somewhat higher than the average. It will be very hand- somely bound in dark half morocco and in light half calf. The price, in either binding, will be ten dollars net. If the purchaser does not indicate a preference, the Index will be sent in half morocco, which will be considered the regular binding. A SERIOUS MISSTATEMENT. A YEAR ago "The Blackstone Publishing Company" announced in this paper a series of cheap reprints of English text-books, similar to the "Law Library" series of the last generation. In the advertising portion of this number is published the prospectus of another enterprise going one step further, and offering English reprints, with American notes, at an equally low price. Whichever of these series gives the better list of books, and the abler American notes, will undoubtedly secure the greater success ; and their rivalry will be a benefit to the profession. The contest is enlivened, at the outset, by some remarkable circulars from the older Company, slashing so wildly at its new rival that public sympathy will probably be attracted, as is usual in such cases, to the party attacked. These facts would not have been mentioned here, however, had not the Blackstone Company issued a circular containing the following clause : — " Look out for old bastard, expurgated, and superseded editions of text- books that may be offered as late editions with American notes." This innuendo is evidently aimed at the first publication of The Ameri- can Law Book Series, — B. V. Abbott's edition of Addison on Con- tracts, brought down to date by H. G. Wood. The publisher of Legal Bibliography published Abbott's Addison, and sold it to the new com- pany to be issued as their first publication ; an attack upon this book is therefore an attack upon its original publisher, who cannot avoid taking up the cudgels in its defence. To come directly to the point, Abbott's Addison is neither "bas- tard," nor "expurgated," nor "superseded." "Bastard" is somewhat difficult to understand, as applied to a law book. It is probably used as meaning spurious, or illegitimate. No book could ever be less liable to such epithets than this edition of Addi- son. The permission of the English publishers to reprint it was ob- tained before publication ; they were given a share of the profits ; an excellent American editor was employed ; the printing was done by John Wilson & Son at the University Press in Cambridge, the leading printing-office of America; the paper and binding were the best that could be obtained. A book thus conceived and born cannot be called illegitimate or bastard. " Expurgated " is a definite phrase, and is absolutely untrue as applied to this book. Every word of the English edition was reprinted, with all the tables and indexes ; and nothing whatever was cut out, or left out, or expurgated. "Superseded" is equally untrue. The last English edition — that of 1883 — was reprinted in full, with the addition of Abbott's fresh and valuable notes, in the same year. No English edition has since been printed ; and there has been no other American edition brought out since 1876. Far from being " superseded," Abbott's Addison is still the latest edition of the best English book on Contracts. Other excellent editions of American works have been published since 1883, but they no more supersede Abbott's Addison than Metcalf on Contracts will supersede it. Each is good in its own place ; but nothing can supersede the last edition of Addison until a later and better edition appears. It may be interesting, in this connection, to state that there have been eight editions of Addison in England, and five in America; as follows: First English, 1847; reprinted in Philadelphia, 1847. Second English, 1849. Third English, 1853. Fourth English, 1856; reprinted in Philadelphia, with notes by Ingersoll, 1857- Fifth English, 1862. Si.xth English ; notes by Cave, 1S69. Seventh English; notes by Cave, 1875: reprinted in New York, with notes by Morgan, 1875-76, and since reissued from time lo time, with dates changed. Eighth English; notes by Horace Smith, 1883; reprinted in Boston, with notes by Abbott, and now continued down to date by Wood. The Recent American Edition of Addison on Torts. — The latest and best book on Torts is Wood's American Edition of Addison, published in the latter part of the year 1887. If you want any book on this subject, be sure to specify in your order " WoOD'b Edition." 2 vols. 18S7. 10.00 nel.