Wiener, Frederick Bernays.
Briefing and Arguing Federal Appeals.
Washington, D.C.: BNA Incorporated, 1961. xvi, 506 pp. Reprinted 2001, 2009 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. With a new introduction by Bryan A. Garner, editor of Black’s Law Dictionary. ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-183-8. ISBN-10: 1-58477-183-6. Hardcover with dust jacket. New. $85.

* In addition to its discussion of appellate advocacy and a description of procedure in the federal appellate courts (Supreme Court, U.S. Court of Appeals, and specialized federal courts), this book provides valuable guidelines for writing briefs and appeals and the preparing oral arguments. Among other topics, it will teach you ways to think before you write, state facts and phrase issues persuasively, use argumentative headings, employ clear, forceful English, handle questions in oral argument, use maps and charts effectively and prevent “forensic halitosis.” AALS Law Books Recommended for Libraries List 26, Legal Profession, page 20, “A” Rated.

Price: $85.00

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Stephens, Alexander H[amilton].

A Constitutional View of the Late War Between the States; Its Causes, Character, Conduct and Results.

Philadelphia; National Publishing Co., [1868-1870]. 2 Vols. Illustrated. Reprinted 2007 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-1-58477-814-1. ISBN-10: 1-58477-814-8. Cloth. $250.

A Georgian, Alexander Hamilton Stephens [1812-1883] was Vice President of the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. He was a U.S. congressman from Georgia before the war and its governor from 1882 until his death in 1883. A Constitutional View is a sophisticated and well-argued defense of the doctrine of state sovereignty and the right of states to secede. The book “was a sensation in its day, evoking attacks by Northern and Southern champions of causes upon which it impinged.”: Dictionary of American Biography IX:574.

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Wiecek, William M. The Guarantee Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, [1972]. [xi], 324 pp. Reprinted 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. 1-58477-505-X. Cloth.

* Wiecek, Congdon Professor of Law and Professor of History at Syracuse University, offers a comprehensive analysis of the origins and development of the clause in Article IV, Section 4 that guarantees a republican form of government to every state of the union. Chapters are devoted to rebellions against state or national authority, slavery, reconstruction and two pivotal cases: Luther v. Borden (1849) and Baker v. Carr (1962).

Price: $95.00

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This pioneering work collects an amazing assemblage of court cases in which animals have been named as defendants–chickens, rats, field mice, bees, gnats, and (in 34 recorded instances) pigs, among others– providing insight into such modern issues as animal rights, capital punishment, and social and criminal theory. Evans suggests an intriguing distinction between trials of specific animals or particular crimes, such as the “murder” of an infant by a pig, and trials for larger, catastrophic events, such as plagues and infestations. In the latter case, Evans suggests a parallel to witchcraft. Edward Payson Evans [1831-1917], a historian, linguist and associate of Ralph Waldo Emerson, taught at the University of Michigan before moving to Germany, where he became a specialist in Oriental languages and German literature. A prolific author, his other Animal-related books are Animal Symbolism in Art and Literature and Animal Symbolism in Ecclesiastical Architecture, both published in 1887. CONTENTS Introduction 1. Bugs and Beasts before the Law 2. Mediæval and Modern Penology Appendix Bibliography Index

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Tucker, Henry St. George. Commentaries on the Laws of Virginia. Comprising the Substance of a Course of Lectures Delivered to the Winchester Law School. With a new Introduction by David Cobin and Paul Finkelman. Richmond: Shepherd and Colin, 1846. Two volumes. 34, 468; 24, 512 pp. Reprinted 1998 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. LCCN 97-10313. ISBN-13: 978-1-886363-26-7. ISBN-10: 1-886363-26-9. Cloth.

* Along with James Kent’s Commentaries on American Law and Joseph Story’s Commentaries, Tucker’s two volume work established the standard for American treatise writing and helped to organize American law. The Commentaries served as the primary reference source for the bar of Virginia as well as for many in the rest of the country until 1850, and was considered the most valuable text for students and lawyers in much of the South until the Civil War.

While modeled on Blackstone’s Commentaries, Tucker’s work is entirely original. In that way it is a much more impressive accomplishment than his father’s edition of Blackstone. The senior Tucker labored hard to annotate Blackstone, and then add to it; Tucker wrote his Commentaries on the Laws of Virginia himself, based on his lectures at Winchester Law School, which he established in 1824. The Commentaries on the Laws of Virginia cover in detail the subject matter in the first three Blackstone’s Commentaries.

Price: $185.00

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