Chadman, Charles Erehart, b. 1873.
Chadman's Cyclopedia and Concise Dictionary: American Law
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| Cyclopedia of Law, 1908 |
Chadman's Cyclopedia of Law is much more of a legal encyclopedia than a dictionary. The twelve-volume set reveals the elementary principles of law in practical language for the student or businessman. The work takes its inspiration chiefly from Blackstone: "The Cyclopedia of Law aims to perform the same office for the American student as the Commentaries did for the English student of law." Chadman, working with "a corps of legal experts," diligently cited cases and articles, reviewing influential cases in detail, always referencing an authoritative text like Bacon or Bigelow. The volumes include questions for students at the end of each volume, quizzing readers about the Constitution ("How were the amendments adopted?") or testing knowledge of Blackstone ("What does Blackstone say as to the primary right of all to the land of the earth?"). The volumes are not well indexed, however, and the subjects are assembled haphazardly.
The Concise Legal Dictionary was designed to be a
companion to the Cyclopedia. IN the preface Chadman states
that it is "aimed to present to the law student and the busy man, words,
expressions and maxims of the law in as concise a form as possible,
limiting them to such terms as have a special significance in legal
science." The publisher, American Correspondence School of Law, also
published an edition of Chadman's Cyclopedia, which
indicates that the Cyclopedia and the Concise Legal
Dictionary were designed as an all-in-one textbook for the
correspondence school.
Bibliography
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