Some Old Law Books. The first edition was printed in 1516, and this is the date in the copy in Lincoln's Inn Library, which is singularly rich in ancient volumes. It would appear that the pro ducers of law books in Fitzherbert's days were gifted with a greater love for art than is possessed by the authors of modern law books. Some of their pages were adorned by the most elaborate designs. The first part of " Fitzherbert " contains a wood-cut of the king on his throne, whilst the second is ornamented by a wonderful collection of the Royal arms, a dragon and a greyhound, two angels, some scrolls, and a rose. It would be difficult for an illustrated law book to command the serious attention of lawyers in these days, even though its artistic embel lishments came from Sir Frank Lockwood. After speaking of such writers as Bracton and Littleton, one hesitates to describe Blackstone's Commentaries as an old law book. It was first published at Oxford, one hundred and thirty-seven years ago. But legislation moves so fast that to glance at an early edition of the famous work is to believe that it is older than it actually is. No law book has ever enjoyed so great a measure of popu larity. As many as twenty-one editions were published before any alteration was made in Blackstone's text, and innumerable attempts have since been made to adapt it to the everchanging law. Mow far these endeavors have been successful may be judged from the fact that the value of the Commentaries is now solely historical. As was once said, "The cannonade which has been playing on the Commentaries exposing, as they do, so wide a front, has rendered them, as they were left by their author, a mere wreck." Not a little of their popularity was due to the im pressive style in which they were written. Never in a law book has lucidity been wed ded so happily to felicity. It is clear, not withstanding the complaints he addressed to his fellow tenant in Brick Court, that Blackstone's literary powers were unaffected by the boisterous sounds in Goldsmith's rooms over
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head. The basis of the Commentaries was a series of lectures which Blackstone delivered at Oxford, and this may partly account for their sonorous note. Like most of the emi nent legal writers of the old school, Sir William Blackstone was a judge. Here again a change may be observed. The bench is no longer recruited from the ranks of textwriters. Judges whose stepping-stones to fame were books are still to be found in the court. Lord Justice Lindley, for instance, owes his judicial seat largely to his standard work on partnerships. But there is now a strong tendency to exclude text-book writers from the active practice of the law, to make them a separate class of superior persons whose refined minds ought not to be devoted to anything less noble than the theory of the law. Among the first six leaders of the bar there is not one with any reputation as an author. During the past thirty years, the publi cation of leading cases has been under the control of a council representative of both branches of the profession. " The Law Re ports " have not, however, caused such old established reports as the " Law Journal Re ports " to, disappear. The earliest reports in the libraries of the Inns were issued in the reign of Edward II. Until the time of Henry VIII the business of reporting was in the hands of lawyers, who were paid by the Crown. Their reports, which were published annually, arc known as " Year Books." These are among the most quaint and valuable vol umes in the libraries. To modern eyes, it is true, neither their bulk nor price is impos ing. At the end of the tenth book of Ed ward IV's reign, which consists of fortypages, are these words : " The price of thys book is iiiid unbounde." The ordinary reader who looked for entertainment in these time-worn pages would suffer some disappoint ment, but it is said that Serjeant Maynard "had such a relish of the Year Book, that he carried one in his coach to devert his time in travel, and chose it before any comedy."
