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1. Johnson, Hebert Alan.
The Law Merchant and Negotiable Instruments in Colonial
New York, 1664 to 1730.
Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1963. Reprinted 2002 by The
Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 2001037701. ISBN 1-58477-243-3. Cloth.
$60.
* Examines an important episode in the history of the laws and
customs devised by merchants to regulate their relations with
each other. As Johnson states in his preface, this “brief study
of the law of merchant and bills of exchange has as its background
a fascinating era of legal history. Changing legal institutions
and patterns of trade were typical of these early years. For the
student of history, as well as the legal scholar, these developments
are of great significance for they are the basis for the future
growth of the law and the commercial supremacy of the province
of New York.” Preface vii. See Walker, The
Oxford Companion to Law
726-728.
2. Lockwood, Frank.
The Law and Lawyers of Pickwick. London: The Roxburghe
Press, [1910?] 108 pp. Reprinted 2002 by The Lawbook Exchange,
Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-231-X. Cloth. $55.
* With a frontispiece of Serjeant Buzfuz by the author. A pleasant
Dickensian diversion spiced with a delightfully wry sense of humor,
The Law and Lawyers of Pickwick offers an account of one
of the most famous legal cases in English literature: Bardell
v. Pickwick. Lockwood [1847-1897] observes that Mr. Pickwick
would have fared even worse under the modern law of evidence,
which would have given Buzfuz an opportunity to amass evidence
for a devastating cross-examination. This volume originated as
a lecture delivered at Morley hall, Hackney, in 1893 that was
attended by Henry Fielding Dickens, the author’s son and an attorney.
His reply, which is included here, indicates his warm approval
of Lockwood’s thesis.
3. McLaughlin, Andrew C.
The Foundations of American Constitutionalism. New York:
The New York University Press, 1932. vii, 176 pp. Reprinted 2002
by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-227-1. Cloth. $65.
* An historian with a legal background, McLaughlin [1861-1947]
traces the principles of justice that embody the United States
Constitution to the influence of colonial New England political
philosophy and Puritan practices and ideals of personal rights
and limited government. A reprint of the Anson G. Phelps Lectures
on Early American History delivered at New York University in
1932. Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at
New York University
(1953) 377.
4. Phelps, Charles E.
Falstaff and Equity: An Interpretation. Boston: Houghton,
Mifflin and Company, 1902. xvi, 201 pp. Reprinted 2002 by The
Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-230-1. Cloth. $65.
* “Judge Phelps of Baltimore has done a very pretty piece of legal
and literary work in this volume. The text is Falstaff’s remark
in the Gadshill scene: `An the Prince and the Poins be not two
arrant cowards, there’s no equity stirring.” All the commentators
have passed this over, assuming, it seems, that the meaning is
only `there’s no such thing as justice in the world.’ Certainly
the words will bear that meaning. But it is a flat remark for
Falstaff to make, if that is all. Is it not really pointed by
some special allusion? Putting that question to himself as a good
Shakespeare reader, Judge Phelps, as a good lawyer, answers it
by looking to what was happening in the Courts just before the
first part of Henry IV was produced. That was some time in 1597,
probably near the end of the year. It turns out that equity was
stirring very much in 1596-7.” F.P. L.Q.R. 17: 322-323 cited in
Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University
(1953) 1143.
5. Savigny, [Friedrich Carl von].
Von Savigny’s Treatise on Possession; or the Jus Possessionis
of the Civil Law. Sixth Edition. Translated from the German
by Sir Erskine Perry. London: R. Sweet, 1848. xvi, 432 pp. Reprinted
2002 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-289-1. Cloth.
$150.
* Treatise on the nature of the legal concept of possession by
the German jurist and scholar of Roman law, Freidrich Carl von
Savigny [1779-1861], a founder of the historical school of jurisprudence,
which opposed the natural school of thought. The only English
translation of his first work, and originally published in German
in 1803, the book made Savigny’s reputation as a jurist of the
first order. Walker,
Oxford Companion to Law
1103. Sweet and Maxwell, A Legal Bibliography of the British
Commonwealth of Nations
I: 316. Catalogue of the Library of the
Law School of Harvard University
(1909) I:386.
6. Wortman, Tunis [d.1822].
A Treatise Concerning Political Enquiry, and the
Liberty of the Press.
New York: Printed by George Forman for the Author, 1800. xii,
296 pp. Reprinted 2003 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-290-5.
Cloth. $95.
* A logical presentation of his political philosophy promoting
freedom of expression, the work advocates the integral role of
government and a free press in efforts to achieve a society in
which freedom of speech is an inherent right and activity. Published
soon after the first amendment to the Constitution was ratified,
the work can be seen as an evolution of Jefferson's and Madison's
proposal of freedom of speech. Wortman's treatise, however, achieves
a moral and ethical analysis of government and free speech beyond
their original appeal for freedom of the press.
Wortman was a New York lawyer, author, newspaper
publisher and orator prominent in Tammany politics. He is also
known for his political tracts, one of which, A Solemn Address
to Christians and Patriots, defended Jefferson against charges
of atheism prior to the election of 1800. Marke, A Catalogue
of the Law Collection at New York University (1953) 340.
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