''Legal Bibliography'' is a book by

John Gage Marvin John Gage Marvin (1815–1855) was an American lawyer, known as a legal bibliographer and figure of the history of California. Early life He was born at Le Raysville, Pennsylvania, and was educated at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. He then t ...

. It is a bibliography of law. It was the first publication of its kind to originate from the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. This book is Marvin's best-known work. It was preceded by an 1843 edition of a work on

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

Sir James Mackintosh Sir James Mackintosh FRS FRSE (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor and barrister, and worked also as a jo ...

, with reading list, and an 1846 ''Catalogue'' of the

Harvard Law Library Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

including recent accessions. The ''Bibliography'' is alphabetical by author, with a topical index, and includes evaluative comments on the works, drawing on numerous sources. Despite the impression given by its short title, the ''Bibliography'' was an attempt to integrate other legal works into the Anglo-American tradition. In 1857, the Upper Canada Law Journal and Lower Courts Gazette said "Mr. Marvin's, Legal Bibliography, is by far the completest work of its kind we have had". Harvard University Library Notes said that this book was, "for many years" after its first publication, "the best American work of its kind". In the Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the Virginia State Bar Association, this book was described as "good in its day, but now more than 40 years old". In 1914, Percy Winfield said that this book was a "valuable" guide "to the materials of English law", that it appeared to be little known in England, that the critical notes were appended to certain classics and reporters and were necessarily brief, especially in relation to the Year Books, that the book was an index of authors rather than topics, and that a new edition was needed. In 1988, Bookman's Yearbook said that the fact that this book was still in use indicated "the sorry state" that legal bibliography was in, the book being "like a third class Lowndes or Brunet". The Harvard Law Review said, in relation to Year-Book bibliography, that Marvin's Legal Bibliography discloses little that is valuable and its accuracy does not stand the test of verification. In his preface, Marvin says that upon reviewing this volume, he discovered that some titles were omitted, and that some dates were erroneous.Marvin, J G. Legal Bibliography. 1847. p vii.

References

*Marvin, J G. Legal Bibliography, or a thesaurus of American, English, Irish and Scotch law books:together with some continental treatises. T & J W Johnson. 1847
Digitised copy
from

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External links

* {{Authority control Legal bibliographies 1847 books

References

Further reading

External links