Court case(1831) 8 Bing 14

The plaintiff, an author, agreed with the defendant publishers to write a book on costume and ancient armour for a series called The Juvenile Library, for one hundred pounds. He researched and wrote a substantial part of the work. The publishers then abandoned the series altogether and refused to pay anything, the book never having been delivered or published.

The Court of Common Pleas held that the author could recover fifty pounds on a quantum meruit. The original contract had been put an end to by the defendants' own act; the plaintiff was therefore not confined to it and could claim reasonable remuneration for the part he had performed, treating the contract as rescinded.