 Browning , Gyles ' attorney , cited a case which had also appeared before Hardwicke , that of Read v Hodges . In that case , a publisher attempted to circumvent the rights of the author of Czar Peter the Great by including all three volumes in one and cutting several pages . Hardwicke rejected the argument , however , declaring that the former case had been decided merely on a motion , and that he had given his decision and statements without the thought he would have given a normal hearing . Hardwicke further took contention with the Attorney General for England and Wales ' assertion that the Statute of Anne provided a publishing monopoly , instead interpreting the act as one meant to promote public education and the public good . 
