If the sale is within the 17th section of the statute of frauds, and the goods have not been receipted for and accepted, or the goods have not been paid for, in whole or in part, then the statute requires as an alternative, that there be made a memorandum of the sale, signed by the parties to be charged by such contracts, otherwise the contract will not be enforceable. This memorandum must be in existence at least some time before suit is instituted, but the law does not require that it be made at the time of the making of the contract, except in the case of the sales of auctioneers. The Statute, however, requires only the existence of the making of the memorandum of the sale, it does not require a delivery of it between the parties. The memorandum itself, may consist of any informal writing, it may consist of a number of different papers, or the writings of a correspondence, provided the papers taken all together constitute a single, connected, consistent writing.24 The writing should be sufficient to identify the parties thereto; it should also describe the goods sold and the price to be paid, if that has been agreed upon. It should also show all the remaining material terms of the contract.

22 Artcher vs. Zeh, 5 Hill, 200.

23 Edgerton vs. Hodge, 41 Vt., 676.

Where the sale is not to be for cash, the memorandum should properly state the terms of credit as given. In one case a part of the purchase price was to be secured by a mortgage to contain a clause authorizing the release of lots on payment of the valuation, but the memorandum did not show the valuation; it was held to be insufficient.25 The time and place of delivery, if agreed upon, are a material part of the contract, and therefore should be stated in the memorandum of sale. The memorandum properly should state the consideration for the contract, but this is sometimes excused by the statute, and by some courts is deemed not essential. The memorandum in any event should show such an agreement as would import a sale and contain all the essential parts of a bargain.26