Books published by Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

One of the most gifted of America's founding fathers, Dr. Benjamin Rush of Pennsylvania not only signed the Declaration of Independence, but also utilized his keen powers of observation to describe most of his fellow delegates to the Second Continental Congress. His character sketches thus complement later descriptions that William Pierce of Georgia drafted of delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. In addition to describing Rush's own optimistic hopes for the new republic, which were later tempered by his concerns over the early direction of American politics, this volume utilizes Rush's letters and other writing to examine his relationship with other key participants (especially John Adams and Thomas Jefferson) and discusses his own proposals for education and prison reform. Talbot Publishing (an imprint of The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.) xix, 261 pp.

During his thirty years on the United States Supreme Court, the late United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia left an indelible impression not just for his influential conservative opinions, quick intellect and larger-than-life presence, but for the clarity and grace of his judicial writing style. Scalia's writings are appreciated as exceptional among judicial opinions not just for the clear reasoning of his legal decisions and viewpoint, but for his sometimes witty, always accessible and carefully chosen language. In this volume the editors have collected some of his most provocative and well-written dissenting opinions and offer analytic introductions to each set of opinions. They include Scalia's opinions in the areas of constitutional structure, judicial power, statutory interpretation, police power, speech, religion and social regulation. Each chapter contains an introduction by the editors. An index to books cited by Scalia offers us the sources of his study on the given opinion. With a general index. xxvii, 554 pp. Published by Talbot Publishing, an imprint of the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

The judicial system constructed by the Normans after 1066 rested on a broad foundation of Anglo-Saxon institutions. Adams traces the evolution of this construction with an emphasis on the ways Anglo-Saxon and Norman practices influenced one another. He proceeds to demonstrate how the resulting judicial hybrid contributed to the development of the English constitution. Reprint of a title from the Yale Historical Publication Studies.

During his thirty years on the United States Supreme Court, the late United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia left an indelible impression not just for his influential conservative opinions, quick intellect and larger-than-life presence, but for the clarity and grace of his judicial writing style. Scalia's writings are appreciated as exceptional among judicial opinions not just for the clear reasoning of his legal decisions and viewpoint, but for his sometimes witty, always accessible and carefully chosen language. In this volume the editors have collected some of his most provocative and well-written representative opinions and offer analytic introductions to each set of opinions. They include Scalia's opinions in the areas of constitutional structure, structure and procedures of the judiciary, fundamental rights and freedoms, rights of the accused, and statutory and treaty interpretation. The book also includes three of Justice Scalia's important concurrences. Each chapter contains an introduction by the editors. An index to books cited by Scalia offers us the sources of his study on the given opinion. With a general index. xxiv, 474 pp. Published by Talbot Publishing, an imprint of the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

"Until the Handbook of Federal Indian Law was issued by the Department of the Interior in 1942, no comprehensive guide to these was available. That work was principally the production of Felix S. Cohen, then assistant solicitor of the department.... It was acclaimed in the pages of this JOURNAL as 'a first class text on 'Indian Law.'' The acclaim was justified, unquestionably. The present work, prepared with an anonymity that defies a reviewer's attempt to attribute authorship, is stated in the preface to be 'a revision and updating through the year 1956' of Mr. Cohen's work. The revision has included a regrouping of the original twenty-three chapters into eleven, coupled with substantial rearrangement of part of the text. However, by use of the tables of contents of the two volumes, it is possible to follow the text of the old into its place in the new. The work of updating has been done thoroughly and conscientiously. This new volume is indispensable to the lawyer who may be concerned with Indian matters or who may wish to become informed concerning the law applicable to Indians." Maurice H. Merrill, American Bar Association Journal 44 (1958) 1072. xix, 1106 pp.

Many students are familiar with the landmarks of Roman jurisprudence but know little about their background. This is unfortunate because these texts lose a great deal of their meaning when they are extracted from their original social and cultural context. Nasmith's Outline addresses this problem directly by making "that which is understood as Roman history go hand in hand with chronological changes in Roman law, and to furnish the reader and myself with an outline of pegs so arranged as to enable us easily and accurately to store our future acquisitions" (vi). Nasmith's tone is utilitarian, but his work is quite sophisticated. What is more, it is a significant work of cultural history based on a study of legal institutions. xix, 618 pp.

This legislative history of the federal income tax laws from 1861 to 1938 will be useful to those arguing or ruling on tax cases. Arranged act by act in inverse chronology, it contains the texts of the committee reports and discussions of all provisions that have interpretive significance. xviii,1166 pp. Seidman's Legislative History of Federal Income and Excess Profits Tax Laws 1953-1939 is a two volume continuation of this work also published by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

An authoritative legal reference work for all libraries. Published two years previously, Anderson's was one of the sources of Black's Law Dictionary. It is heavily referenced, citing countless cases, treatises and other sources. It provides judicially framed definitions whenever possible to illustrate the application of judicial principles. Moreover, many entries such as "citizen" and "law" receive extended treatment. The dictionary also includes Latin and Norman-French terms, and brief biographies of prominent jurists such as Blackstone, Kent, and Story.

This informative, deeply researched and well-written study traces the legal history of English Jews from the Saxon period to the early 1900s. Reprint of the sole edition. With a table of statutes and a table of cases.

Containing around 25,000 definitions, many of them dealing with legal topics, this was the largest English dictionary of the late-seventeenth century. An innovative work, it was the first to recognize the importance of slang. In addition, it offers lists of dialect words and obsolete terms and the names of market towns and European cities. It also discusses the proper names and histories of classical figures.

Traces the growth of the Roman constitution and examines how it functioned during the mature Republic and the Principate. "My desire was to touch, however briefly, on all the important aspects of the important aspects of public life, central, municipal, and provincial; and, thus, to exhibit the political genius of the Roman in connexion with all the chief problems of administration which it attempted to solve." (Preface). Includes a useful index of Latin words and an index of passages from ancient authors referenced in the text. xx, 483 pp.

Considered a primary factor in the undermining of the Whig history of Magna Carta, McKechnie's landmark study provides a translation and detailed analysis of this fundamental text. xvii,530 pp.

A collection of Sir Frederick Pollock's lectures from the Carpentier Series at Columbia University. William Holdsworth praised the eight lectures as a discussion of "...critical studies of aspects and characteristics of the common law which only an accomplished legal historian, a master of the modern law, and a professor of jurisprudence could have written." William Holdsworth, Some Makers of English Law 287. vii, 141 pp.

Renowned for its impeccable legal reasoning and lucid prose, this compelling study is based on a close reading of the four gospels. It reconstructs the accounts of Mathew, Mark, Luke and John and examines their discrepancies. The final two chapters put these accounts into the context of Jerusalem's legal and political environment. Radin's goal is not to pass judgment, but to reconstruct one of the most significant events in history, which he does with remarkable skill. ix, 266 pp.

A classic history of modern Anglo-American property law beginning with its antecedents in ancient Rome and medieval England. Begins with an examination of the organization and development of the early Roman system of property, the foundations of the English or feudal systems of property, then shows how those systems evolved to modern Anglo-American property law in terms of structure and substance. Appendix includes a useful etymology of early terminology. Reprint of the sole edition. xiv, 645 pp.

Reprint of the second edition and last edition written by Joseph Story. First published in 1834, this was the first systematic work on the subject. Collected from all available sources, it was both a scholarly treatise and a useful handbook for practitioners. A standard work in North America during the nineteenth century, it was one of the first American treatises recognized as an authority in Great Britain. xxxiv, 927 pp.

This dictionary is an excellent guide to the source and meaning of Anglo-American legal concepts of the mid-nineteenth century. It contains translations of nearly five-thousand items of foreign origin and supplies definitions for innumerable legal maxims found in English and American sources. Great attention is given to the context of legal terms; the definitions are complemented by detailed notes and citations. 580 pp.

This collection focuses on the period from 1763 through the mid-nineteenth century. In Louisiana and the Floridas, the territorial ambitions of Britain, France, and Spain, as well as the new American Republic, led to a rapidly shifting series of political and cultural changes. The result in the region was the creation of complex hybrids of social mores, customs, and legal ideas and institutions. Of particular significance were the land claims that inevitably followed transfers of sovereignty and legal systems, the social and legal entrenchment of established elites and the institution of slavery, as well as a legacy of extra-legal violence and folk justice. The fluid borders of Louisiana and the Floridas, both East and West, exposed the flexible social identities and political loyalties of those who were settled there. Indeed, later accounts of the period and place have often misunderstood mixed motives, and contemporary rhetoric, of its subjects and citizens. Through a mix of different historiographical methods, a broad understanding of legal and social history, and the lens of plural comparative contexts, this collection tells us much about continuity and change in a critical transition period for the region, as well as for the modern Western nation-state and its increasingly common laws. xxxv, 297 pp. 10 illustrations. Talbot Publishing (an imprint of The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.)

One of the major works of the Virginian John Taylor of Caroline [1753-1824]. Little-known today, Taylor's work is of great significance in the political and intellectual history of the South and is essential for understanding the constitutional theories that Southerners asserted to justify secession in 1861. Construction Construed and Constitutions Vindicated was Taylor's response to a series of post-War of 1812 developments including John Marshall's Supreme Court decision in McCulloch v. Maryland, the widespread issuance of paper money by banks, proposals for a protective tariff, and the attempt to bar slavery from Missouri. Along with many other Southerners, Taylor feared that these and other measures were undermining the foundations of American republicanism. He saw them as the attempt of an "artificial capitalist sect" to corrupt the virtue of the American people and upset the proper constitutional balance between state and federal authority in favor of a centralized national government. iv, 344 pp.

The Elements of the Common Laws of England is the general title for a work that is comprised of two different treatises: A Collection of Some Principall Rules and Maximes of the Common Lawes of England and The Use of the Law, Provided for the Preservation of Our Persons, Goods and Good Names. The first contains a set of twenty-five maxims, or regulae. One of the earliest, if not first, collections of maxims on English law, it is remarkable for its stylistic vigor, intellectual rigor, meticulousness and clarity. The second treatise is a review of the history and practical application of criminal law, estate law, personal property law and the law of slander (i.e. "the preservation of our good names from shame and infamy"). The Use of the Law is probably not in fact by Bacon; it was first printed anonymously as Part II of The Lawyers Light (1629) by Sir John Doddridge. Among America's Founding Fathers, Jefferson held Bacon in high esteem. In a 1789 letter to John Trumbull, he said he considered Bacon, Locke and Newton to be "the three greatest men that have ever lived, without any exception." xix, 104, vii, 84 pp.

A collection of essays, three previously unpublished, that consider John Marshall's leadership role in the U.S. Supreme Court during the formative period of its institutional development from 1801 to 1835. The collection includes a historiographic essay, a statistical analysis of Supreme Court opinions in the Marshall era, and biographies of Associate Justices William Cushing, William Johnson, and Bushrod Washington. xiii, 358 pp. Published by Talbot Publishing, an imprint of the Lawbook Exchange, Ltd.

Commentaire sur l'Esprit des Lois de Montesquieu (1806) is a critique of Montesquieu's pessimistic appraisal of democracy in De l'Esprit des Lois. While minister to France in the 1780s Jefferson saw this work in manuscript. It so impressed him that he arranged for its publication in France and translated it anonymously for publication in America. Looking back at this work in a letter from 1811, Jefferson commended it for correcting De l'Esprit des Lois. While other studies "nibbled only at its errors," he told his correspondent, this work rebutted them "with a depth of thought, precision of idea, of language and of logic, which will force conviction into every mind. I declare to you, Sir, in the spirit of truth and sincerity, that I consider it the most precious gift the present age has received.": The Writings of Thomas Jefferson V:566-571. Reprint of the first edition. viii. 292 pp.

Madden explores political theory and governmental organization during one of the richest periods of Spanish history. Along with keen discussions of such important landmarks as the doctrines of St. Isidore of Seville, the Costumbres of Tortosa, the Usatges of Barcelona and Las Siete Partidas, Madden analyzes the influence of Roman law and the administrative machinery of the king, municipalities and Cortes. xv, 198 pp. Ten illustrations.

This collection of wills will be enjoyed by the layman, the lawyer and the scholar as a reflection of the individual cited and of their times. All sorts of wills from the sublime to the absurd are included, such as the will of a pig, clauses in wills concerning slaves, the wills that established the Nobel Prize and the Rhodes scholarship, and many more.This fascinating volume contains the text of wills that are "ancient": Confucius' will, Solon's introduction of wills to the ancient Greeks; wills that are "curious": a will that attempts to bequeath property to the devil, bequests to pets; and wills of the "famous": well-known authors (Rabelais, Dickens, etc.), European royalty (Napoleon, Mary Queen of Scots, etc.) and U.S. presidents (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc.). Well-indexed by subject and name.

This book surveys the written expression of human rights from the time of the Greeks to the present; it argues the legal and philosophical bases for codifying human rights; and ultimately presents a proposed International Bill of Rights of Man, article by article. x, 230 pp.

A study in comparative law that examines the legal systems of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden and the forces that influenced their development. According to Orfield, the Scandinavian states are a useful area for study due to their democratic traditions, high rates of literacy, commitment to progressive social legislation, and unique examples of law based largely on custom and usage that owe little to Anglo-American or Continental models. xx, 363 pp.

John Lansing [1754-1829] attended the Constitutional Convention as delegates from New York. His heirs discovered his notes among his papers. They were not published until 1939 and provide a rich new primary source record for scholars of the Convention. The notes were apparently intended for his private use only, and do not appear to have been altered or revised by him. Only in Lansing's notes do we find a report of two Constitutional questions regarding states' rights and sovereignty, an explanation of Charles Pinckney's plan for the Senate, an exceptionally careful presentation of Hamilton's speeches on individual and states' rights, and an explanation of the final vote on the New Jersey plan. These notes are of value not only for their unique perspective on the principals involved, but for the issues regarding the states relationships he documented. x, 125 pp.