Bouvier's Law Dictionary Vol. 1: Adapted to the Constitution and Laws Of the United States of America And of the Several States of the American Union (Volume 1)
(A dictionary of the common law from the 19th Century, Bou...)
A dictionary of the common law from the 19th Century, Bouvier's Law Dictionary restores the heart of the common law as it was practiced in the United States before the War Between the States.
John Bouvier was born in 1787 in Codognan, France; the son of Jean Bouvier and Marie Benezet. In 1802 his family, who were Quakers (his mother was a member of the well-known Benezet family), emigrated to America and settled in Philadelphia.
Education
Bouvier was educated in Nimes. He studied law under the tutelage of Andrew Stewart. He was admitted to the bar in Fayette County, Pennsylvania in 1818.
Career
After varied experiences as proprietor of a book shop and as a country editor Bouvier was admitted to the bar in 1818, having become a citizen of the United States in 1812. He attained high standing in his profession, was recorder of Philadelphia in 1836, and from 1838 until his death was an associate justice of the court of criminal sessions in that city. His Law Dictionary Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America and of the Several States of the American Union (1839, revised and brought up to date by Francis Rawle, under the title of Bouvier's Law Dictionary, 2 vols. , 1897) has always been a standard. He published also an edition of Bacon's Abridgement of the Law (10 vols. , 1842–1846), and a compendium of American law entitled The Institutes of American Law (4 vols. , 1851; new ed. 2 vols. , 1876).
In 1810, he married Elizabeth Widdifield (1789-1870). Their daughter, Hannah Mary Bouvier Peterson (1811-1870), was astronomical writer and cookbook author .