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John Bouvier

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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JOHN BOUVIER (1787-1851), American jurist, was born in Codogno, France, in 1787. 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, and after varied experiences as proprietor of a book shop and as a country editor he 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. He is best known for his able legal writings. 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 Abridgment of the Law (IO vols., 1842-1846), and a compendium of American law entitled The Institutes of American Law (4 vols., 1851; new ed. 2 vols., 1876).