Baker v. Libbie
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
Bill in equity, filed in the Superior Court on February 17, 1911, by the executor of the will of Mary Baker G. Eddy, late of Concord in the State of New Hampshire, against the members of a firm engaged in business in Boston as auctioneers of books and manuscripts, alleging that a number of private unpublished letters written by the plaintiff’s testatrix had come into the possession of the defendants in the course of their business, that the defendants had advertised such…
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Bill in equity, filed in the Superior Court on February 17, 1911, by the executor of the will of Mary Baker G. Eddy, late of Concord in the State of New Hampshire, against the members of a firm engaged in business in Boston as auctioneers of books and manuscripts, alleging that a number of private unpublished letters written by the plaintiff’s testatrix had come into the possession of the defendants in the course of their business, that the defendants had advertised such letters for public sale in their auction rooms in Boston and already had printed and published material and substantial…
1Opinion of the CourtRugg, C. J.
The plaintiff as executor of the will of Mary Baker G. Eddy, the founder of “ Christian Science ” so called, seeks to restrain an auctioneer of manuscripts from publishing for advertising purposes and from selling certain autograph letters of his testatrix. These letters were written in her own hand by Mrs. Eddy, as is said, “during one of the most interesting periods of her career, that is, just after the first publication of her ‘ Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,’ ” in 1875. It is averred in the answer that the letters have no attribute of literature, but are merely friendly…
2Cases cited13 opinions
- Folsom v. MarshU.S. Circuit Court for the District of Massachusetts · 1841
- Kalem Co. v. Harper BrothersSupreme Court of the United States · 1911
- Holmes v. HurstSupreme Court of the United States · 1899
- Palmer v. . De WittNew York Court of Appeals · 1872
- Sibley v. NasonMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1907
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3Cited by30 opinions
- Norman Birnbaum, B. Leonard Avery and Mary Rule MacMillen Plaintiffs v. United StatesCourt of Appeals for the Second Circuit · 1978
- In Re Martha R. KaveCourt of Appeals for the First Circuit · 1985
- Kenyon v. City of ChicopeeMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1946
- Commonwealth v. CabotMassachusetts Supreme Judicial Court · 1922
- Estate of Hemingway v. Random House, Inc.New York Court of Appeals · 1968
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