Tucker: Contracts in Engineering; Osborn: Questioned Documents--A Study of Questioned Documents with an Outline of Methods by which the Facts may be Discovered and Shown; Scott (ed. and trans.): The Visigothic Code (Forum Judicum

Drake, Joseph H.

Knowlton, Jerome C.

Lane, Victor H.

English

University of Michigan School of Law

Michigan Law Review Volume 9 Issue 2 1910 Book Reviews Jerome C. Knowlton University of Michigan Law School Victor H. Lane University of Michigan Law School Joseph H. Drake University of Michigan Law School Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr  Part of the Legal Writing and Research Commons Recommended Citation Jerome C. Knowlton, Victor H. Lane & Joseph H. Drake, Book Reviews, 9 MICH. L. REV. 171 (1910). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol9/iss2/5  This Regular Feature is brought to you for free and open access by the Michigan Law Review at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Michigan Law Review by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact mlaw.repository@umich.edu. BOOK REVIEWS. CoNTRAC'tS iN ENGIN:££RING.-By James Irwin Tucker, B.S., LL.B.; Member of the Boston Society of Civil Engineers and Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering at Tufts College. McGraw-}1ill Book Com-pany, 1910, pp. xii, 307. For many years the leading schools of engineering have included in their curricula of study the subject of engineering contracts, -that the student might better qualify hi~self for his cposen profession. The object of the author in preparing this work is best stated in his own words: "An endeavor ha.; been made in ·the present work.to supply a practical course showing" the con-tractual basis of engineering work and of business at large. The object has been to provide a text-book suitable in form and subject matter for use in Engineering Schools. *· * * In preparing these outlines of contract law, a twofold purpose has been kept in vie;y : First, to make matter and state-ments such as would be readily intelligible to the average college student who has no opportunity for extended study of legal principles ; Second, to pre-sent such facts and rules as seem likely to be of most value to him in his future professional and business career." The object of the author has been attained with a considerable degree of success. He has also included in the book several chapters on corpora-tions, agency, torts and real property.' For this reason, perhaps the title of th'e book is too restrictive, but it matters not. The profession of engineer-ing has so grown in importance during the past twenty years, and the engi-neer is called upon to carry out undertakings of such magnitude that he can-not hope for success without first having acquired a knowledge of the fun-damental principles of contracts, torts and property rights. Professor Tuclc-er's work 'Will be a great assistance to the student to this end. The book concludes with a chapter of practical value on engineering contract writing and specifications. J. C. K. Qu~TIONSD DocuM!NTs.-A Study of Questioned Documents with an Out-line of Methods by which the Facts may be Discovered and Shown. By Albert S. Osborn. Lawyers' Co-operative Publishing Company, Rochester, N. Y., 1910, pp. xxiv, 501. Were the book not worthy in itself, an "intro\_iuction" by one so well known for his careful and exhaustive work in the law of evidence as Profes-sor Wigmore, would challenge our attention to it The work is in no sense a "law-book'' but in a very real sense a book for lawyers whose work, as that of most trial lawyers occasionally does, brings them in contact with questions as to the genuineness of hand-writing. The author disclaims in the outset any attempt at a legal treatise though he does incidentally accept an opportunity to criticize the reasonableness, or MICHIGAN LAW REVIEW unreasonableness, .of some rules of law· applicable in the field of his investi-gation. · The result justifies the effort of the author to present in a clear and rea-sonable way various methods of very greatly assisting the courts to come to correct conclusions on these, many times, very troublesome questions as t9 the genuineness of hand-writing. So frequently does either the life, lib-erty, reputation or important property rights, depend upon whether a few written letters were made by one hand or another, that any real assistance in the solution of this question is w.elcome. Mr. Osborn is as ready as any to disparage the dogmatic opinion of any-one, however extended his experience in this field, who arrives at it by in-tuition rather than as the result of the consideration of reasonable evidence which he welcomes the opportunity to present in support of his opinion. Mr. Os1?orn's discussion is refreshingly free from that empirical attitude so apt to characterize one who through careful study has made himself a master in a particular field. The first chapter, the "precautionary" chapter, is full of wise -and help-ful suggestions. The chapter on "Standards of comparison,'' in view of the condition of the law on thrs subject, is very interesting matter. : So much may also be said of the chapters on "Ink and Questioned Doc-uments" and on "Paper and Questioned Documents." The book as a whole presents the results of extensive, careful and scien-tific study and research in this particular field fa such a judicial spirit that it is certain to receive a cordial welcome by the legal profession and others specially interested in the questions it discusses. The mechanical execution of the book is most excellent, making it pe-culiarly pleasing to those interested in good printing as well as good printed ~~ ~R~ Tut V1s1GO'.rHIC Cont (Forum Judicum).-Translated from the original Lat-in, and- edited by S. P. Scott, Author of "Through Spain," "History of th& Moorish Empire in Europe," Member of the Comparative Law Bureau of the American Bar Association. Boston: Boston Book Company, 1910, pp. lxxiv, 419. The wisdom of the committee on comparative law of the American Bar Association is shown by ,the choice of this code for translation. Aside from the fact that t4e Forum Judi.cum is intrinsically one of the best of the early barbarian -codes, it •has a peculiar value because of its 1iistoric position, por-traying as it does the three important elements of the Spanish civilization of the seventh century. It is based on the Breviarium Alaricianum, which con-tributes, in the main, Roman elements; the Code of Euric, from which it may be assumed to have taken principles .of West Gothic law; and was formulated under the influence of the Council of Toledo, through which· it gets its theocratic tinge. It then in turn becomes a source of authoritative law for later Spanish jurists, a position which it maintains at the present _day._ BOOK REVIEWS 173 As late as- the last year of the eighteenth century the ·Fuero Juzgo was held "not derogated •by any other," and 'today, according to Mr. Scott, it occupies a position somewhat analogous .to, that of the Common Law with us, inas-mui:h as all questions ·not otherwise determined' are referred to and decided by its provisions. A translation of such a work appeals in general to two classes of readers; first, those _who wish to get access to the _material of the original without the labor involved in reading in the foreign tongue, for the historical or literary purpose, and, second, those who wish to use it for a scholarly ·or scienti.fic purpose of comparative study. MT. Scott's translation meets the needs of the first class admirably. The introduction ·has a real literary flavor and may well be classed in the, category of interesting reading for all who have a desire to know anything about this very important historico-legal work of the seventh century,' Nor is the literary charm gained .at the ex~ pense of scholarly accuracy in statement of fact nor of skillful presentation ,of the main historical movements of the time. The body of the text, too, is turned into clear and idiomatic English, an achievement which certainly involved no small amount of painstaking labor, if one considers the barbarous Latin of the original, little assistance in the rendering of which, the transla-tor says, has been afforded by the obscure Castilian version. But for the help of the other class of readers some simple additions might have been made which would materially enhance the v·alue of the; work. In the first place there seems to be no mention of the eiiition of the original text used, at least this does not appear in the usual position at the enq of the introduc-tion, and the translator gives us little information as to his method of hand-ling the chief difficulty in such a work, namely, the translation of the tech-nical terms. He does tell us that he ·has frequently used paraphrases, that so far as practical he has attempted to observe 1h~ spirit of the original and that he has preferred to render the words and ~pressions. literally when this can be done, but this does not help us much when we come to the inter-pretation of any particular passage. In the handling of this troublesome question a number of devices may be used. The simplest perhaps is the use of th<. etymological cognate, as for ex·ample, "contract" for c911tractus. This has, however, in many instances little more to recommend it than its simplicity and it runs counter to the fun-damental dictum of our teachers of elementary classics that •the cognate should be avoided .. Even in the example above cited we may be in doubt whether contractus means contract or the ·obligation arising from a contract, though, the Roman would have had little difficulty on that score. The institutional cognate is sometimes available, as the translation o· f. nzagistratus_by execu-tive, but in this we are constantly liable to get mer-e similarities instead of equivalent ideas and often make the anachronistic blunder of reading into remote times >a purely modern conception. The simple transfer of the word from one language to another as in the ease of status is, of course, the ideal method of transferring the concept, but unfortunately ,this is confined to very narrow limits· and, as .. a matter of fact, begs· the entire question of transla-tion. Fim1Jly, the explanatory phrase may sometimes be used; as for exam-174 MICHIGAN LAW REVIEW pie, "the law of the abnormal person" for jus ad personas. It is manifestly impossible to say which of these devices is best in itself. and in so difficult a task as is the translation of a medireval legal Latin text all of them may well be used. It would, however, make a translation much more useful if we had some hint at the hard points as to how the translator has met the difficulty. The insertion of the foreign word in· b;ackets along side of the translation has been used with excell~nt results by Loewy in his English ver-sion of the German Civil Code and to a less extent by Walton in his trans-lation of the Spanish Civil Code. Inasmuch as tlie translations of the Bu-reau of Comparative 1,aw are more likely to be·used by the scholar seeking definite information on a particular point of -comparative law than by the reader with mere literary interests, it might be ~uggested that some such con-cession could be made ;to the scientific jurist even at the expense of spoiling · tQ some extent the literary form of the product. The many ·notes, mainly institutional commentary, which are sprinkled through the text could be made more helpful if the authorities for the state-ments of facts were given in each instance. The explanation of the term . antiqua given in the note on page g8 is apparently not in strict accord with the reference to the same word in the note on p. 351. The peculium·castrense is eertainly· not identical with the military will of the Roman legionary of classic Roman law, as seems to be implied in the riote on p. 73, though the peculium might be disposed of by the testamentum militare. The borrowing of the Twelve Tables from· the penal legislation of the Gre~s, referred to in the note on p. 26o, must probably be included in the category of the "not proved." · J. H. D. 

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