OF Real Property, WITH AN APPENDIX OF PRECEDENTS, COMPRISING PARTICULARS AND CONDITIONS OF SALE, CONTRACTS, BY WILLIAM HUGHES, Esq., OF GRAY'S INN, BARRISTER-AT-LAW. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON: JOHN CROCKFORD, LAW TIMES OFFICE, 29, ESSEX STREET, STRAND. PREFACE. THE intention of the present treatise is to em. brace, in a concise yet comprehensive view, the whole law, both elementary and practical, relating to the sale of real property, from the time a vendor first applies to his solicitor to dispose of it, until its final consummation by the actual conveyance to the purchaser, with remedies, both legal and equitable, which either a vendor or purchaser may resort to in case the other should refuse to complete the contract; the whole arranged in such a manner as to convey instruction to the student, and general information to the practitioner. The subject-matter of the present volume has appeared from time to time, for the course of the last twelve months, in the Law Times, during which period the author has received many valuable suggestions from several members of the profession, who, from a perusal of the articles, were pleased to take a kind interest in the work, that have enabled him to make it far more complete and better adapted to general practice than his own individual exertions, unaided by such important assistance, could possibly have accomplished, and which he feels the most grateful pleasure in now acknowledging. The subject commences with treating, first, the proceedings preliminary to the sale, suggesting the best course to be adopted to dispose of the property to the greatest possible advantage, also practical directions for preparing the advertisements, the particulars and conditions of sale, and pointing out at the same time such forms as may be best adapted for that purpose; all of which will be supplied, either in the body of the work or in the Appendix. Next will come the consideration of the sale itself, and the manner in which it ought to be conducted; the duties, powers, and responsibilities of the auctioneer; the effect and operation of the Statute of Frauds the mode of conducting a sale under a decree of a Court of Equity; and how a sale by private contract ought to be conducted. After this, the capacity of the contracting parties will be discussed. The next subject of inquiry will be the proceedings immediately subsequent to signing the agreement, under which head will be included s; the preparation and delivery of the abstract, with practical instructions for framing it, and the order and manner in which the respective documents and matters of fact connected with the title should be set out and stated. Then will follow a dissertation on the duties of the purchaser's solicitor in investigating the title; the nature and operation of the various assurances; the rules applicable to their construction fully explained; and the important alterations made by several recent Acts of Parliament, which so materially affect the law of real property, thoroughly gone into. The next subject of discussion will be the intermediate proceedings between the investigation of the title and the execution of the conveyance, in which many practical observations will be offered as to the manner in which this very important part of the transaction ought to be conducted, including the requisitions and objections to the title-how these should be replied to-the comparison of the abstract with the different documents to which it refers-what other evidence may be necessary to substantiate the title-observations upon the Stamp Acts by which the validity of any of the assurances may be affected-the searching for incumbrances-of equitable protection against them-and, in case the title should prove un |