building. We know of no recent work which appeals more to the needs of the practitioner than this treatise. Abbreviations used in Law Books, reprinted from the Lawyer's Reference Manual of Law Books and Citations. By Charles C. Soui.e. (Edit ion of 1883.) The Boston Book Co., Boston, 1897. Law sheep, $1.50 net. Mr. Soule has gathered into a very handy little volume the list of abbreviations used in law books, which originally appeared in his " Lawyer's Reference Manual" published in 1883. While the volume does not cover the law literature of the last fourteen years it is still a practical guide to all citations which are likely to puzzle the practitioner's mind. The profes sion will be glad to learn that Mr. Soule is preparing a new edition of " The Lawyer's Reference Manual" which when completed, will contain a complete list of American, English, Irish, Scotch and British Colo nial Reports, Digests and Statutes and local law books, together with a list of English and American elementary works, all brought fully down to date. In the meantime this volume of abbreviations is indis pensable to practitioners. Estee's Pleadings, Practice and Forms adapted to Actions and Special Proceedings under Codes of Civil Procedure. By Morris M. Estee. Fourth Edition, revised and enlarged by Charles T. Boone. Bancroft-Whitney Co., San Francisco, 1898. Three volumes. Law sheep. While this admirable treatise has been prepared with special reference to the codes of civil procedure adopted by many of the States, it will be found to be of great value to the profession generally. The numer ous changes, which have been made in the codes since the publication of the third edition of the work (1885) and the many judicial decisions rendered upon the subject during that period, have made a new edition an absolute necessity. Mr. Boone has made little or no change in the general arrangement of the treatise, the new matter being added in the way of additional sections or in extended notes to the text. Brought fully down to date and covering in a most thorough and satisfactory manner this impor tant branch of the law, the work is one which every lawyer in the Code States will find to be invalu able, while the common law practitioner, to whom a familiarity with code pleading and practice has be come a necessity, cannot well afford to be without it. The typographical work is all that could be desired, and the general make-up of the volumes reflects credit upon the publishers.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary. By John Bouvier. A new edition, thoroughly revised and brought up to date, by Francis Rawle, of the Phila delphia bar, Vol. I (covering titles A to Itin erant) . The Boston Book Company, Boston, 1897. Law sheep, $6.00 net. This is a notable edition of a notable book. All of the elder generation of lawyers recognize ' . Bou vier's Law Dictionary " as one of the classics of the law. Judge Bouvier's heirs have been wise, beyond other heirs to legal literary property, in issuing fre quent revised editions of his Dictionary, — under able editorship, — not holding with too great rever ence to Bouvier's text where it gradually becomes obsolete; but always, in each edition, bringing every changeable topic right up to the latest decisions. As developed in these successive editions, the Dic tionary has become an Encyclopedia, a full collec tion, not only of the definitions and maxims, the old terms and the local terms and the foreign terms, of the law, but also of terse, accurate, modern treatises on every legal topic, with citations to the leading cases and the best recent decisions. There is no other book in our literature that can so well be called the core and kernel of a lawyer's library, as "Bouvier's Law Dictionary," in this latest edition, distinguished from its predecessors by the outer sub-title, " Rawle's Revision." It is by far the best book extant in which to hunt for a ready answer to the puzzling questions of a client, or for a start on any investigation of legal points. A glance at the closely printed double columns of the 1,140 pages of Vol. I of this edition discloses scores of improvements on previous editions, both on scholarly and on practical lines; in the omission of obsolete matter; in the change and development of the treatment of various subjects; in new mono graphs on the newer topics, such as bicycle, elec tricity, labor law, sleeping-cars, telephone, etc.; and everywhere the addition of late decisions of all the English and American courts. The present editor, Francis Rawle, is worthy of his succession and of his task. He is a leader of the Philadelphia bar, has long had a national reputation as treasurer of the American Bar Association, is a man of edu cation and cultivation, and a lawyer in active and important practice. Only once or twice in a gen eration can so busy a lawyer find time for author ship, and the rare works thus acly edited are the milestones of legal literature. In any court of the United States. — or in any court in England or its colonies, — the citation of a work by Bouvier, edit ed by Rawle, would command respect and carry weight. Vol. II. completing the work, is announced to be published in May next.
