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Commentaries on the Laws of England : in Four Books
William Blackstone and Thomas M. Cooley
From Editor's Preface, v.1: "Believing that the time has come when this work would be increased in value by discarding altogether the notes of English editors, and substituting matter more especially important to American practitioners and students, the editor has prepared this edition under that conviction.... To the Review of the recent progress of the law appended to the Fourth Book, there has been also added a summary account of the British Colonial System and the System of Local Government, and the means given for comparison of these with analogous institutions in the United States."
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The Law of Expert Testimony
Henry Wade Rogers
The purpose which the writer had in mind in the preparation of this monograph, was to furnish to the practitioner a more extended presentation of the law relating to expert testimony, than is afforded in the treatises on evidence. It seemed desirable that the law on this important subject should be set forth with more of detail than it has been found practicable to do in the general treatises of the law of evidence. The cases relating to expert testimony are so numerous and so diversified in character, that any attempt to bring them all together, and give to them that consideration they merit in a work devoted to the general subject of evidence, would seem to be out of the question. Moreover, within the last few years, many and important cases on this subject have been decided by the courts, which have not yet found their way into the larger treatises on evidence. It was for the purpose of supplying this evident want that this work was undertaken.
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Reports of Cases Determined in the Court of Chancery of the State of Michigan
E. Burke Harrington and Thomas M. Cooley
Originally published in 1845, covers cases from 1836-1842. Cited as: Harr. Ch. (2ed) and commonly known as Harrington's chancery reports.
From the Preface to the Second Edition: "Harrington's Reports having been for some time out of print, the undersigned ... has taken charge of a new edition....
"Some improvement ... has been introduced, particularly in the head notes... The original paging has been preserved, for the convenience in tracing former references." Thomas M. Cooley, Ann Arbor, October 1872.
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Report of Messrs. Thurman, Washburne, & Cooley, Constituting an Advisory Committee on Differential Rates by Railroads Between the West and the Seaboard.
Allen G. Thurman, E. B. Washburne, and Thomas M. Cooley
In January, 1882, the undersigned were notified that they had been selected by the New.York Central & Hudson River Railroad Company, W. H. Vanderbilt, P1·esident; the New York, Lake Erie & Western Railroad Company, H. J. Jewett, President; the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, G. B. Roberts, President, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Company, John W. Garrett, President, to act as an Advisory Commission upon " the differences in rates that should exist, both eastwardly and westwardly, upon all classes of freights between the several terminal Atlantic ports," and to report upon the same.
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The General Principles of Constitutional Law in the United States of America
Thomas M. Cooley
The manual which follows has been prepared for the use of students in law schools and other institutions of learning. The design has been to present succinctly the general principles of constitutional law, whether they pertain to the federal system, or to the state system, or both. Formerly, the structure of the federal constitutional government was so distinct from that of the States, that each might usefully be examined and discussed apart from the other; but the points of contact and dependence have been so largely increased by the recent amendments to the federal Constitution that a different course is now deemed advisable. Some general principles of constitutional law, which formerly were left exclusively to state protection, are now brought within the purview of the federal power, and any useful presentation of them must show the part they take in federal as well as state government. An attempt has been made to do this in the following pages.
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Law Abridgment: Closing Address Delivered Before the Graduating Law Class of the University of Michigan, March 20, 1879.
James V. Campbell
We hear on all sides complaints of the increasing mass of printed Reports and text-books, which it is said the lawyer must find some means of mastering, but which no life is long enough to read. The young lawyer, as he scans the dreary catalogues, and wonders what Croesus can buy or what brain can learn all this lore, is sorely puzzled what books to choose from the thousands that have found printers. And when a few years of practice have shown him how small a share of these books have done any good in the world, he is forced to consider, whether the evil can not in some way be removed. The remedy has not yet been found, and perhaps may not be, unless some great convulsion should come, which shall destroy laws altogether. This is not the relief we desire.
It may be that one reason why we find no remedy is because we have no clear idea of the mischief. And while it may need some greater pressure, and some intolerable grievance, to make any of us see the true condition of affairs, I have thought it could do no harm than to spend this hour in making some suggestions on the subject.
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A Treatise on the Law of Taxation Including the Law of Local Assessments
Thomas M. Cooley
"The following pages have been prepared with a view to present in a shape for practical use, the general rules which must govern the action of all authorities acting in matters of taxation ….
The preparation of any treatise on taxation necessarily involves the presentation of disputed points, and the expression of opinions upon them. This has been done in the following pages. It has not been the purpose, however, to take any positions which it was not believed the authorities would justify; and if this has been done in any instance, the references which are made to authorities will doubtless enable the reader to detect the error." --Preface
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A Treatise on the Law of Torts or the Wrongs Which Arise Independent of Contract
Thomas M. Cooley
In preparing the following pages the purpose has been to set forth with reasonable clearness the general principles under which tangible and intangible rights may be claimed, and their disturbance remedied in the law. The book has been written quite as much for students as for practitioners, and if some portions of it are more elementary than is usual in similar works, this fact will supply the explanation.
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Annotations...Walker's Chancery Reports
James V. Campbell
The occasion which has arisen for publishing a new edition of Walker's Chancery Reports, renders it proper to accompany it with some notice of the Court, and of the changes which have taken place since the decision of the C'ases reported in this volume. The Court of Chancery, which was organized immediately on the formation of the State government, was presided over by a Chancellor, who held his courts at regular terms in, at first, three, and afterwards four different places, but with general jurisdiction over the entire State. The first Chancellor was Elon Farnsworth, a gentleman of singularly excellent qualities to become the founder of an Equity system, from his thorough training and his fairness and breadth of mind. He at once proceeded, with the aid of faithful assistants, to complete a system of Rules which were to a grt•at extent moclified or copie"d from the New York Rules in Chancery, which had been shaped by the experience of Chancellor Kent and his sncce;;sors, under a body of Statutes very closely resembling those of Michigan. Chancellor Farnsworth succeeded in simplifying the practice, and in providing for a much speedier disposition of causes than had before been reached in either England or New York. The rules of admission to the Chancery Bar were so framed as to prevent the danger of incompetent practitioners, by requiring a previous admission after a three years' novitiate to the Common Law Courts, and a special examination of the Attorney after his common law admission by a committee of Equity Lawyers. With well trained practitioners it was not difficult to secure the orderly transaction of business; and at the same time our Chancellors were always careful never to allow any substantial equity to be lost by the misprision of officers or counsel. The system, as applied, was a very good one, and the jurisdiction was useful.
Chancellor Farnsworth's decisions, previous to his resignation in 1842. are reported in Ihrrington's Chancery Ueports-a second edition of which was not long since published under the careful revision of Judge Cooley. The few 1leP.isions rendered by thnt Chancellor during his brief resumption of the office in 1846 and 1847 have not been collected.
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A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations Which Rest Upon the Legislative Power of the States of the American Union
Thomas M. Cooley
In the Preface to the first edition of this work. the author stated its purpose to be, to furnish to the practitioner and the student of the law such a presentation of elementary constitutional principles as should serve, with the aid of its references to judicial decisions, legal treatises, and historical events, as a convenient guide in the examination of questions respecting the constitutional limitations which rest upon the power of the several State legislatures. …
Preface to the 4th Edition: "New topics in State Constitutional Law are not numerous; but such as are suggested by recent decisions have been discussed in this edition, and it is believed considerable value has been added to the work by further references to adjudged cases.” --Thomas M. Cooley, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, April 1878.
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Outlines of the Political History of Michigan
James V. Campbell
Written in 1876 this work was originally intended as a sketch of the political development of the State of Michigan to be used for the purposes of its Centennial Committee. Chapters span Michigan political history beginning with early explorations by France and England, colonization, French and then British rule, military conquest, the administration of colonial governors, relations with adjacent territorial entities, the last years of the Territory and the first Constitution of 1835; and lastly, Michigan under the Constitution of 1850.
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A Treatise on the Law of Taxation Including the Law of Local Assessments
Thomas M. Cooley
"The following pages have been prepared with a view to present in a shape for practical use, the general rules which must govern the action of all authorities acting in matters of taxation ….
The preparation of any treatise on taxation necessarily involves the presentation of disputed points, and the expression of opinions upon them. This has been done in the following pages. It has not been the purpose, however, to take any positions which it was not believed the authorities would justify; and if this has been done in any instance, the references which are made to authorities will doubtless enable the reader to detect the error." --Preface
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A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations Which Rest Upon the Legislative Power of the States of the American Union
Thomas M. Cooley
In the Preface to the first edition of this work. the author stated its purpose to be, to furnish to the practitioner and the student of the law such a presentation of elementary constitutional principles as should serve, with the aid of its references to judicial decisions, legal treatises, and historical events, as a convenient guide in the examination of questions respecting the constitutional limitations which rest upon the power of the several State legislatures. … The second edition being exhausted, the author, in preparing a third, has endeavored to give full references to such decisions as have recently been made or reported, having a bearing upon the points discussed.
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Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States : with a Preliminary Review of the Constitutional History of the Colonies and States Before the Adoption of the Constitution
Joseph Story and Thomas M. Cooley
From the Editor's Preface: “In preparing for the press a fourth edition of Mr. Justice Story’s Commentaries on the Constitution, it has been thought proper to preserve the original text without alteration or interpolation, and to put in notes all discussions by the editor, as well as all references to subsequent adjudications, public papers, and events, tending to illustrate, support, or qualify the positions assumed in the text. The new amendments, however, seemed to demand treatment in the body of the work, and additional chapters are given for that purpose….”
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Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States : with a Preliminary Review of the Constitutional History of the Colonies and States Before the Adoption of the Constitution
Joseph Story and Thomas M. Cooley
From the Editor’s Preface, Vol. I: “In preparing for the press a fourth edition of Mr. Justice Story’s Commentaries on the Constitution, it has been thought proper to preserve the original text without alteration or interpolation, and to put in notes all discussions by the editor, as well as all references to subsequent adjudications, public papers, and events, tending to illustrate, support, or qualify the positions assumed in the text. The new amendments, however, seemed to demand treatment in the body of the work, and additional chapters are given for that purpose….”
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Commentaries on the Laws of England : in Four Books
William Blackstone and Thomas M. Cooley
“The main purpose in giving to the public a new edition of the Commentaries of Blackstone, was to present the changes in the law which had taken place since the last preceding edition appeared, that the reader, while informing himself concerning the law of England of a century since, might not be misled in respect to its present condition. With this object before him, while avoiding the detail which might be useful to the English practitioner, but which would merely cumber the pages for American use, the editor has sought to indicate the statutory changes sufficiently to give a general idea of the advancement made in the English law since our commentator’s time, and also to enable the American student to compare the law of his own country with the system from which it was derived, as modified by the experience of another land enjoying free institutions under circumstances and with a state of society considerably differing from our own….” --Author’s Preface to the First Edition reprinted in 2nd Ed.
“A new edition of this work having become necessary, the editor has made some changes and additions, but not such as will call for special notice here. They consist in the main of references to new cases, though some new notes have been added which may prove of practical value.” --Authors Preface in 2nd Ed.
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Commentaries on the Laws of England : in Four Books
William Blackstone and Thomas M. Cooley
“The main purpose in giving to the public a new edition of the Commentaries of Blackstone, was to present the changes in the law which had taken place since the last preceding edition appeared, that the reader, while informing himself concerning the law of England of a century since, might not be misled in respect to its present condition. With this object before him, while avoiding the detail which might be useful to the English practitioner, but which would merely cumber the pages for American use, the editor has sought to indicate the statutory changes sufficiently to give a general idea of the advancement made in the English law since our commentator’s time, and also to enable the American student to compare the law of his own country with the system from which it was derived, as modified by the experience of another land enjoying free institutions under circumstances and with a state of society considerably differing from our own….” --Author’s Preface to the First Edition reprinted in 2nd Ed., Vol. 1.
“A new edition of this work having become necessary, the editor has made some changes and additions, but not such as will call for special notice here. They consist in the main of references to new cases, though some new notes have been added which may prove of practical value.” --Authors Preface in 2nd Ed., Vol. 1.
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Commentaries on the Laws of England : in Four Books
William Blackstone and Thomas M. Cooley
“The Commentaries of Mr. Justice Blackstone have now for more than a century been the wonder and delight of persons whose curiosity or interest have led them to investigate the constitution and laws of Great Britain, the condition of things from which they grew, and the reasons upon which they rest….
“In preparation of the present edition it has not been thought unimportant to call attention from time to time to the differences which exist between the constitutions of Great Britain and of the United States. Some of those differences, however, are too subtle to be put upon paper, and spring from differences in society which are sensibly felt but difficult of description….
“What is new in this edition has been added in the same spirit that has governed the selections from the English notes. As students make more use of this work than practicing lawyers, their information and benefit have been kept mainly in view but references have been made to judicial decisions on many practical questions, and it is hoped they will be found not without their convenience to the profession generally.” --Thomas M. Cooley, Ann Arbor, … 1870
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Commentaries on the Laws of England : in Four Books
William Blackstone and Thomas M. Cooley
From Editor's Preface, Volume I:
“The Commentaries of Mr. Justice Blackstone have now for more than a century been the wonder and delight of persons whose curiosity or interest have led them to investigate the constitution and laws of Great Britain, the condition of things from which they grew, and the reasons upon which they rest….
“In preparation of the present edition it has not been thought unimportant to call attention from time to time to the differences which exist between the constitutions of Great Britain and of the United States. Some of those differences, however, are too subtle to be put upon paper, and spring from differences in society which are sensibly felt but difficult of description….
“What is new in this edition has been added in the same spirit that has governed the selections from the English notes. As students make more use of this work than practicing lawyers, their information and benefit have been kept mainly in view but references have been made to judicial decisions on many practical questions, and it is hoped they will be found not without their convenience to the profession generally.” --Thomas M. Cooley, Ann Arbor, … 1870
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A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations Which Rest upon the Legislative Power of the States of the American Union
Thomas M. Cooley
In the Preface to the first edition of this work. the author stated its purpose to be, to furnish to the practitioner and the student of the law such a presentation of elementary constitutional principles as should serve, with the aid of its references to judicial decisions, legal treatises, and historical events, as a convenient guide in the examination of questions respecting the constitutional limitations which rest upon the power of the several State ·legislatures. In the accomplishment of that purpose, the author further stated that he had faithfully endeavored to give the law as it had been settled by the authorities, rather than to present his own views. At the same time, he did not attempt to deny - what he supposed would be sufficiently apparent- that he had written in full sympathy with all those restraints which the caution of the fathers had imposed upon the exercise of the powers of government, and with faith in the checks and balances of our republican system. and in correct conclusions by the general public sentiment, rather than in reliance upon a judicious, prudent, and just exercise of authority, when confided without restriction to any one man or body of men, whether sitting in legislative capacity or judicial. In this sympathy and faith he had written of jury trials and the other safeguards to personal liberty, of liberty of the press and of vested rights; and he had also endeavored to point ont that there are on all sides definite limitations which circumscribe the legislative authority, independent of the specific restrictions which the people impose by their State constitutions. But while not predisposed to discover in any part of our system the rightful existence of any unlimited power, created by the Constitution, neither, on the other hand, had he designed to advance new doctrines, or to do more than clearly and with reasonable conciseness to state the principles to be deduced from the judicial decisions.
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"Practical Suggestions." An Address Delivered to the Senior Class of the Law Department of University of Michigan.
Charles I. Walker
Professor Walker's address to the 1869 graduating Law School class.
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A Treatise on the Constitutional Limitations Which Rest Upon the Legislative Power of the States of the American Union
Thomas M. Cooley
“In these pages the author has faithfully endeavored to state the law as it has been settled by the authorities, rather than to present his own views. At the same time he will not attempt to deny -- what will probably be sufficiently apparent -- that he has written in full sympathy with all those restraints which the caution of the fathers has imposed upon the exercise of the powers of government, and with greater faith in the checks and balances of our republican system, and in correct conclusions by the general public sentiment, than in a judicious, prudent, and just exercise of unbridled authority by any one man or body of men, whether sitting as a legislature or as a court….
And trusting that fair criticism may discover in his work sufficient of practical utility to justify its publication, he submits it to the judgment of an enlightened and generous profession.”
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A Digest of the Reported Cases Contained in the Michigan Reports
Thomas M. Cooley
"In preparing the following Digest, brevity and convenience of use have been kept in view, rather than perfection of arrangement as a mere work of art; and the object of the compiler will be fully attained if he has succeeded in placing before the Profession of the State a convenient Index to the books of Reports....
"Seventeen volumes of Reports are embraced in this Digest; all of them official and authoritative, being prepared by Reporters appointed by the Courts under authority of law."
This series includes the full text of select faculty-authored books, including some authored by Thomas M. Cooley.
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