Third Edition. Publishing Co. By Francis B. Tiffany, St. Paul, Minn. West 1900. Pp. x, 553. The fact that this book has reached a third edition raises a strong presumption in its favor a presumption which is not repelled by a careful examination of its contents. Its editors, however, do not claim for it the merit of originality. In his preface to the first edition, Professor Norton described the work as a collation "from the best text-writers and the leading cases" of "the most apt statements of those principles of negotiable bills and notes which will most frequently come before the student in his practice." That edition, he also stated, was "intended, not for the practitioner, but only for students in law schools and law offices." Although the present edition is intended for the practitioner as well as for students, Mr. Tiffany frankly acknowledges his obligations to his predecessors in this field of law, especially to Professor Ames, whose Index and Summary at the end of his great collection of cases is commended in terms of well-deserved praise. Whether, after such frankness, the editors. were at liberty to appropriate the language of Professor Ames, without indicating by quotation marks or by reference to the Summary, that the language was his, is a question upon which there may be a difference of opinion. An example of the practice under discussion is found on page 29, where the following sentences are reproduced verbatim from page 827, Sec. 5 of the Summary; but without quotation marks or any reference to Professor Ames or the Summary: "A promissory note is a new obligation, and not simply evidence of an old obligation. An acknowledgment of indebtedness is evidence of an old obligation, but creates no new obligation." A rather novel feature of the first edition was sacrificed, when the work was changed from a treatise for students only to a handbook for practitioners as well. The problems appended to each chapter of the text for students' drill were expunged. In the place of these problems much new matter has been inserted with no little deftness, including a large array of citations; and the Negotiable Instruments Law has been printed in an Appendix. "At the suggestion of many teachers" we are told in the preface to this edition "The publishers have adopted the device of printing in bold type in the foot notes and text, the names of all cases there cited which are to be found" in the leading collections of Cases on Bills and Notes. This device has its advantages, but occasionally it gives to a page the appearance of suffering from a bad attack of hysterics. In the very first section two blunders in dates arrest the attention of even a cursory reader. The statute of 3 and 4 Anne. C. 9, is ascribed to the year 1705 instead of 1704, and 20 Car. II, is referred to as 1868, instead of 1668. These errors are due probably to careless proofreading; but, to whatever cause ascribable, they do not tend to inspire confidence in the accuracy of the book. Barring errors of the character referred to, the work appears to be a trustworthy reproduction of the views of Ames, Chalmers and Daniels, with the addition of some authorities not cited by them. READINGS IN THE LAW OF REAL PROPERTY.-An elementary col lection of authorities for students. Selected and edited by George W. Kirchwey, Nash Professor of Law in Columbia University. New York, Baker, Voorhis & Co. Pp. xxix, 555. This is a collection of authorities on the elements of Real Property Law. The selections are taken partly from decided cases, partly from English and American statutes, and partly from the writings of those who have always been conceded as having the right to speak authoritatively on the subject. The readings are grouped under five main divisions. Book I defines the place of Real Property, contrasting the historical with the natural classification. Book II deals with the general subject of ownership, the short extract from Pollock and Maitland giving an unusually clear description of feudal tenure. Book III treats of Estates in Lands; Book IV discusses those rights less than ownership which have not already been classified under the preceding heads; and Book V deals with the creation and transfer of interests in land, not only at common law but under the modern statutes. It is obvious that the main purpose of the editor in compiling these "readings" was to place in the hands of his students the material necessary for a thorough understanding of the law of Real Property. However well equipped a law school library may be, it is hardly possible for all the members of a class to get access to classroom references while the discussion is still fresh- -a difficulty which this book seems mainly devised to meet. The value of the book, however, suggests its limitations. By reason of its very purpose, it lacks entirely the connected narrative form. No book of excerpts could be expected to have continuity. For this reason it is feared that the student who attempts to use it without the aid of either a text book or an instructor will have difficulty in making headway. It is very doubtful if the book will even temporarily satisfy the demand for that modern work on Real Property which the editor in his preface recognizes as the great need of the legal profession. The book, considering its size, contains a remarkably full presentation of modern statutes, especially from New York. The binding and printing of the book are of the best, and the value of the collection is greatly helped by a very full and carefully arranged index. By John C. Craw ABBOTT'S TRIAL EVIDENCE.-Second Edition. ford. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Co. 1900. Pp. xxxvi, 1190. The original work, published in 1880, is too well known to require extended comment. In it Mr. Abbott succeeded in giving to the profession a practical working compendium of the rules relating to the modes of proof in the principal classes of actions and defences. The method of treatment adopted, namely, the division of the subject into as many classes as there are classes of action, was not scientific, and the discussions in the text dealt with rules rather than principles; consequently the book was not well adapted to the needs of students. The practitioner, however, who wishes the rules of evidence applicable to the case in hand found them there stated clearly and concisely, so far as settled by authority, and the authorities given in well-chosen notes. As to the unsettled points of law, the author had no theories to advance. Particular attention was devoted to the forms and methods of procedure under the New York Code of Civil Procedure, and the work proved to be especially valuable to the members of the bar in the several code States. The reviser's efforts have been mainly devoted to bringing the work down to date by collecting and accumulating the cases relating to the subject decided since 1880. He leaves the arrangement of the work undisturbed and makes few changes in the text. He does not avail himself of the opportunity afforded to expand the work by treating more fully of the rules of evidence in the various forms of equitable actions, with which the first edition dealt somewhat meagerly. Changes or developments in the law of the subject are for the most part pointed out by foot-notes. In covering so extensive a field it would perhaps be impracticable to cite all the cases decided or examined, although such a collection of cases would be of undoubted assistance in preparing for trial or in brief-making, in connection with which the chief usefulness of the book is to be found. The reviser has accordingly limited himself to citing cases in which new points have been decided, and the recent cases in which settled rules have been applied or affirmed. In many instances he has substituted recent authorities for those originally cited in the first edition. This process of selection and substitution is one requiring much discrimination. Recent cases are always valuable, particularly to the brief-makers; but when the citation of such cases involves the dropping of earlier leading cases, the value of the work is sacrificed to the desire to save space. On the whole, however, Mr. Crawford seems to have performed in a very satisfactory manner the somewhat thankless task of reviving the usefulness of one of our standard valuable law works. The result is a book which will prove a valuable office assistant to the busy practitioner and prove of occasional assistance to the student who is in search of authorities. The receipt of the following books is acknowledged and reviews will follow: AMERICAN LAW. A Treatise on the Jurisprudence Constitution, and Laws of the United States. By James De Witt Andrews. Chicago Callaghan & Co. 1900. pp. lxii, 1245. THE POLICE POWER OF THE STATE AND DECISIONS THEREon as ILLUSTRATING THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALUE OF CASE LAW. By Alfred Russell, of the Detroit Bar. Chicago: Callaghan & Co. pp. xvii, 204. 1900. OWEN'S LAW QUIZZER. By Wilber A. Owen, LL. M. Second Edition. St. Paul: West Publishing Co. 1900. pp. v, 613. ELEMENTS OF JURISPRUDENCE. By Thomas Erskine Holland, D. C. L. Ninth Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, American Branch. 1900. pp. xvi, 430. CLERK'S ASSISTANT. By Austin Abbott, LL. D. Revised Edition. By Clarence F. Birdseye. New York. Baker, Voorhis & Co. 1900. pp. x, 1091. PROBATE REPORTS ANNOTATED, VOL. IV. New York: Baker, Voorhis & Co. 1900. pp. xxxiii, 767. LAW OF WILLS. Boston Book Co. By James Schouler. Boston: Third Edition. |