Reprint of the first American edition. With notes and references to English and American cases. "Of all the French writers upon Commercial Law, Emerigon holds the first rank. His writings and his reputation are not confined to France alone, for the jurists of Great Britain and the United States have equally derived assistance form his labors, and have borne their united testimony to his great learning and diligence. Lord Ellenborough says, "who has equaled Emerigon as a theoretical and practical writer on the Law of Insurance? He has exhausted every topic, so far as materials were within his reach; and upon all new questions his work, for illustration, and authorities, and usages, is still unrivalled." Chancellor Kent has spoken with equal warmth and truthfulness of Emerigon, for he remarks, that his [Essay on Maritime Loans] "very far surpasses all preceding works in the extent, value, and practical application of his principles. It is the most didactic, learned, and finished production extant on the subject. He professedly carried his researches into the antiquities of the maritime law, and illustrated the ordinances by what he terms the jurisprudence of the tribunals; and he discusses all incidental questions, so as to bring within the compass of his work a great portion of international and commercial law connected with the doctrines of Insurance. In the language of Lord Tenterden, no subject in Emerigon is discussed without being exhausted, and the eulogy is as just as it is splendid."-J. G. Marvin, Legal Bibliography (1847) 292. BALTHAZARD-MARIE EMERIGON [1716-1785] was the leading French authority on commercial law. His reputation rests on his Nouveau Commentaire sur l"Ordonnance de la Marine, du Mois d"Août 1681 (1780) and Traité des Assurances et des Contrats à la Grosse (1783).