{"id":6040,"date":"2013-01-01T14:41:18","date_gmt":"2013-01-01T14:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lawin.org\/?p=6040"},"modified":"2013-01-01T14:41:18","modified_gmt":"2013-01-01T14:41:18","slug":"bouviers-law-dictionary-and-concise-encyclopedia-1914","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawin.org\/bouviers-law-dictionary-and-concise-encyclopedia-1914\/","title":{"rendered":"Bouvier's Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia, 1914"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bouvier’s Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia<\/h1>\n

Bouvier’s Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia (3d revision), 8th ed., West
\nPublishing Company, 1914, 3 volumes; reprinted in 1984 by William S. Hein & Co., Inc.<\/p>\n

Acording to Morris L. Cohen et Al. (“How to Find the Law”, 412, 9th ed. 1989), “For almost a hundred years, the numerous editions of John Bouvier<\/a>‘s A Law Dictionary were most popular among American lawyers.\u201d The 1914 edition “is out of date in some respects. It is a particularly scholarly work, however, and many of its definitions are encyclopedic in nature. It is still very useful for many historical terms (J. Myron Jacobstein et al., Fundamentals of Legal Research<\/a> 456, 7th ed. 1998). A footnote adds that it was first published in 1839 and that the final edition was Bouvier’s Law Dictionary and Concise Encyclopedia, 3d rev. (8th ed.) by F. Rawle (West, 3 vols., 1914).<\/p>\n

Isadore G. Mudge, in his “Guide to Reference Books”(6th ed. 1936) said that the 1914 edition of Bouvier’s was “the standard American law dictionary\u201d . For and Ervin H. Pollack (“Legal Research<\/a> and Materials”, 1950), it is “perhaps the most scholarly [of legal dictionaries] in its tratment, providing besides definitions articles on many of the Legal topics<\/a> .\u201d<\/p>\n

A concise encyclopedia of Anglo-American law, its outstanding feature was its emphasis on
\nthe American elements in the law.<\/p>\n

\n

Citing Legal Dictionaries in the U.S. Supreme Court<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

Until the 1940s, the Bouvier’s Law Dictionary were the most cited. In the 1940s and 1950s, Black’s and Bouvier’s were each cited five times. The citation score was ten to five Black’s in
\nthe 1960s and 1970s; Black’s showed a commanding ninety-four to nine lead in
\nthe 1980s and 1990s.<\/p>\n

For a thorough study of the Supreme Court’s citation of dictionaries, see Samuel A. Thumma & Jeffrey L. Kirchmeier, The Lexicon Has Become a Fortress: The United States Supreme Court<\/a> ‘s Use of Dictionaries, 47 BUFF. L. REV. 227 (1999). Appendix C lists dictionaries and the cases that cited them through the 1997-1998 term. According to the authors’ list, various editions of Black’s have been cited in some 134 cases, while various editions of Bouvier’s have been cited in only thirty-six.<\/p>\n

Scholars have noted the increasing resort to dictionaries by the Supreme Court. See, e.g.:<\/p>\n