A profile of Arthur William Selover appeared in Horace Hudson's "A Half Century of Minneapolis" (1908). This is an excerpt:
"He matriculated at the University of Minnesota for the continuation of his studies, entering the academic department. He graduated from that department in 1893, receiving at the time his degree of B. A., returning to complete his training for the legal profession, which he had determined to follow, in the law college. He finished the law course in 1894 taking a LL. B. degree; and at the time of graduation was awarded the honors of his class for the preparation of the best and most complete legal thesis. After leaving college Mr. Selover followed his legal studies for a time and in 1897 took the additional degree of LL.M. In 1894, following his graduation from the law department of the University of Minnesota, he had accepted a position on the editorial staff of the West Publishing Company of St. Paul, and took an important part in the editing of the law books handled by that house. He was associated with that firm as legal editor for five years, but in 1899 resigned his office to follow his original intention of entering the legal profession. He chose Minneapolis as the field for his practice and has since been engaged with legal work in this city. Much important litigation has come under his management during the course of his practice. Mr. Selover is also the author of several legal books, the most important, possibly, being a volume on negotiable instruments which is used as a standard authority throughout the country and which the Yale Law School has adopted as a text book. This was published in 1900. A year later he completed and published a work on bank collections."
Selover actually wrote two treatises on the law of negotiable instruments. The second, "A Treatise on Negotiable Instruments for Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wyoming, Arizona, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Wisconsin," was published by the Keefe-Davidson Law Book Company, St. Paul, Minnesota, around 1902. A second edition by William Henry Oppenheimer (1884-1975) was published in 1910 by Keefe-Davidson, later by Callaghan and Company in 1912. It is posted here.
The second edition was noted in 15 Dickinson Law Review 65 (November 1910):
"A somewhat careful examination of this new edition of Selover satisfies us of its great merit. It gives the language of the Negotiable Instrument law, and in connection therewith, the consentaneous decisions whether earlier or later than its enactment, not failing, however to note decisions that have been superseded by it. The arrangement, being that of the statute, is easily grasped, and decisions on any particular topic may be quickly found. The textual discussion is terse, and clear, and the notes ample. It seems to us that the book cannot fail to be as useful to practitioners of the law, who want to know what the courts have said upon any given provision of the Act, as to students of law not yet admitted to the bar."
It was also noted in 28 The Banking Law Journal 704 (August 1911):
"A second edition of Selover on Negotiable Instruments, by William H. Oppenheimer, has appeared. The book follows closely the Negotiable Instruments Statute, but does not omit the general rules of law which have been left out of the statute. It is replete with citations and contains tables facilitating the finding of corresponding sections of the Negotiable Instruments Law in the different states.
"A prominent feature of this book lies in having the principal propositions of law expressed briefly in black letter type. The book is one of value upon the desk of any banker. It is published by the Keefe Davidson Law Book Company, St. Paul, Minn."
Selover wrote an earlier treatise on the law of negotiable instruments in other states. It is ponderously titled, "The Negotiable Instruments Law for New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Utah, North Dakota, District of Columbia." It was published by the Keefe Davidson Law Book Company in 1900, with a second edition in 1905.
Governor Theodore Christianson appointed him to the Probate Court of Hennepin County in 1928, and to the District Court in 1930. He was elected in 1932, reelected twice, and retired in 1950. Judge Selover died on August 25, 1956, at age 85.
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Posted MLHP: August 11, 2016.
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