Page:Marvin, Legal Bibliography, 1847.djvu/255

 CRU CRUISE, WILLIAM. An Essay on the Nature and Operation of Fines and Recoveries. 3d ed. 2 vols. 8vo. London. 1794. Fearn's Essay on Contingent Remainders, is the confessed model of Mr. Cruise's Essay. " Every part of the law relating to fines and com- mon recoveries, has been stated and explained by Mr. Cruise, in his Essay upon these subjects, in a manner that equally recommends them to the student and the most learned and experienced practitioners." 3 Co. Lit, 2G1, a ; 1 Bart. Conv. 3G ; Brooke's Bib. Leg. Ang. 239. . A Digest of the Laws of England, respecting Real Property. 6 vols. 8vo. London. 1804-7. 1818, 7 vols. 8vo. 1824, 6 vols. 4th ed. revised and considerably enlarged ; comprising references throughout the work to the principal Deci- sions, and to the various important Acts affecting the Law of Real Property, since the former edition in 1824, up to the time of pub- lication ; together with a new chapter on Merger. By H. H. White. 7 vols. 8vo. London. 1835. The above is rather a collection of Cases upon the Law of Real Pro- perty than an elaborated Treatise. It was first published in 1804, and at that time was the most comprehensive and complete work upon the Law of Real Property. In consequence of its systematic analysis, and the copious collection and abridgment of decisions, it was a convenient book of reference, and came into general use in the profession ; and if the Cases which have been accumulating upon the subjects embraced in the Digest had been added in the various editions and brought down to the present time, after Mr. Cruise's method, there would have been less occasion for later publications upon the Law of Real Property, which have taken the place of Cruise's work, and in some respects ren- dered it obsolete. It is an unequal performance, and that portion of it devoted to Remainders and Executory Devises " is little more than a transcript of Fearns' Essay." Mr. White corrected some of the errors and mis-statements of Cruise, contributed additional matter to the text and furnished notes and references to Cases and Statutes ; but his edi- tion, though preferable to any of its predecessors, was not edited with that completeness and care which the undertaking required, and which the profession had a right to expect. The American equal in number the English editions, though neither of the American contains the additions of Mr. White. The 3d American edi- tion was edited by E. D. Ingraham, and the fourth by T. Huntington, in 1831. These editors added numerous notes and references to American decisions, and Cruise's Digest has thus been a text book in the United States, not because it was altogether adapted to this country, but because it was the best book of the kind to be had, until the publication of Chan- 243