The Essential Holmes

The Essential Holmes Selections from the Letters, Speeches, Judicial Opinions, and Other Writings of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

by Oliver Wendell Holmes, edited by Richard A. Posner

University of Chicago Press, 1992
Cloth: 978-0-226-67552-7 | Paper: 978-0-226-67554-1 | Electronic: 978-0-226-27988-6
DOI: 10.7208/chicago/9780226279886.001.0001

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ABOUT THIS BOOKTABLE OF CONTENTS

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., has been called the greatest jurist and legal scholar in the history of the English-speaking world. In this collection of his speeches, opinions, and letters, Richard Posner reveals the fullness of Holmes' achievements as judge, historian, philosopher, and master of English style. Thematically arranged, the volume covers a rich variety of subjects from aging and death to themes in politics, personalities, and law. Posner's substantial introduction firmly places this wealth of material in its proper biographical and historical context.

"A first-rate prose stylist, [Holmes] was perhaps the most quotable of all judges, as this ably edited volume shows."—Washington Post Book World

"Brilliantly edited, lucidly organized, and equipped with a compelling introduction by Judge Posner, [this book] is one of the finest single-volume samplers of any author's work I have seen. . . . Posner has fully captured the acrid tang of him in this masterly anthology."—Terry Teachout, National Review

"Excellent. . . . A worthwhile contribution to current American political/legal discussions."—Library Journal

"The best source for the reader who wants a first serious acquaintance with Holmes."—Thomas C. Grey, New York Review of Books

Introduction

To Green (Oct. 14, 1911)

"Reflections on the Past and Future" (1912)

To Einstein (Aug. 30, 1908)

To Sheehan (Sept. 3, 1910; Oct. 18, 1912)

To Laski (March 31, 1920)

To Pollock (Nov. 19, 1922; Dec. 31, 1922; Aug. 12, 1923; Dec. 1, 1925)

To Laski (May 30, 1929)

To Einstein (June ?, 1929; June 5, 1928)

To Laski (June 15, 1929; Sept. 29, 1929)

To Pollock (May 20, 1930; June 9, 1930)

To Einstein (Feb. 8, 1931; May 29, 1931)

To Pollock (Aug. 16, 1931)

Radio Address (1931)

To Pollock (April 21, 1932)

To Green (Nov. 9, 1913)

To Laski (Dec. 15, 1923)

To Lady Pollock (Jan. 10, 1904)

To Einstein (Jan. 6, 1908)

To Sheehan (Nov. 23, 1912; Dec. 15, 1912)

To Laski (Dec. 31, 1916; Nov. 30, 1917; Dec. 22, 1922)

To Pollock (May 21,1922; Nov. 5, 1923)

To Cohen (Jan. 30, 1921)

To Laski (Jan. 12, 1921; March 15, 1917; March 29 [23?], 1917; Feb. 19, 1920; Feb. 25, 1921)

To Pollock (April 6, 1924)

To Pollock (June 10, 1923; April 2, 1926)

To Laski (July 1, 1927; Jan. 23, 1928; Feb. 18, 1928)

"Dr. S. Weir Mitchell" (1900)

To Laski (March 26, 1925)

To Pollock (Oct. 13, 1921)

To Laski (Aug. 24, 1924; Feb. 1, 1925)

To Einstein (July 28, 1928)

Bleistein v. Donaldson Lithographing Co. (1903)

To Laski (March 11, 1922)

To Laski (Feb. 17, 1924)

To Pollock (Feb. 26, 1911)

To Laski (March 28, 1924)

To Pollock (Aug. 9, 1924)

To Laski (Sept. 22, 1922; April 14, 1921)

To Pollock (Feb. 10, 1925)

To Laski (July 21, 1921; Aug. 6, 1917)

To Sheehan (Oct. 27, 1912)

To Pollock (Feb. 9, 1921)

To Einstein (Nov. 24, 1912)

To Pollock (May 25, 1906; Dec. 31, 1911)

To Einstein (June 17, 1908; Sept. 27, 1909)

To Einstein (May 19, 1927)

To Ford (Aug. 30, 1917)

"The Fraternity of Arms" ( 1897)

Address at Ipswich (1902)

To Einstein's Daughter (May 6, 1925)

To Laski (Aug. 20, 1926; Dec. 15, 1926)

Bar Association Speech (1900)

"Memorial Day" (1884)

"The Soldier's Faith" (1895)

"The Class of '61" (1911)

"On Receiving the Degree of Doctor of Laws" (1886)

To Laski (Nov. 13, 1921)

"George Otis Shattuck" (1897)

Address of Chief Justice Holmes (1902)

To Einstein (Oct. 12, 1914)

To Pollock (Feb. 1, 1920)

Buck v. Bell (1927)

To Cohen (Sept. 6, 1920)

To Laski (Jan. 27, 1929; Jan. 11, 1929)

To Pollock (Aug. 30, 1929)

To Laski (June 1, 1919)

To Cohen (Feb. 5, 1919)

To Green (Oct. 1, 1901)

To Laski (Feb. 26, 1918; April 13, 1929; Sept. 27, 1921)

To Ford (Dec. 29, 1917)

To Green (Aug. 20, 1909)

To Laski (June 24, 1926; Sept. 15, 1929; April 18, 1930)

"Ideals and Doubts" (1915)

"The Gas-Stokers' Strike" (1873)

Commonwealth v. Perry (1891)

Vegelahn v. Guntner (1896)

Plant v. Woods (1900)

"Economic Elements" (1904)

Northern Securities Co. v. United States (1904)

Dr. Miles Medical Co. v. John D. Park & Sons Co. ( 1911 )

To Laski (July 23, 1925)

To Einstein (Oct. 28, 1912)

To Laski (Aug. 1, 1925; May 24, 1919; Feb. 28, 1919; May 21, 1927; July 8, 1928)

"Law and the Court" (1913)

"Despondency and Hope" (1902)

"Twenty Years in Retrospect" (1902)

Giles v. Harris (1903)

America Banana Co. v. United Fruit Co. (1909)

Olmstead v. United States (1928)

"The Path of the Law" (1897)

Dunbar v. Boston & Providence R.R. (1902)

To Pollock (Jan. 19, 1928)

"Natural Law" (1918)

"Learning and Science" (1895)

"Law in Science and Science in Law" (1899)

To Ford (Feb. 8, 1908)

Jackman v. Rosenbaum Co. (1922)

Stack v. New York, New Haven & Hartford R.R. (1900)

"Holdsworth's English Law" (1909)

"John Marshall" (1901)

"Walbridge Abner Field" (1899)

"William Allen" (1891)

To Pollock (Aug. 27, 1883)

To Laski (June 4, 1920; Dec. 17, 1925)

To Pollock (Feb. 24, 1923)

To Laski (Nov. 10, 1923; Jan. 16, 1918)

"The Profession of the Law" (1886)

"Sidney Bartlett" (1889)

"The Law" (1885)

"The Use of Law Schools" (1886)

Southern Pacific Co. v. Jensen (1917)

Black & White Taxi Co. v. Brown & Yellow Taxi Co. (1928)

The Western Maid (1922)

To Laski (Jan. 29, 1926)

To Pollock (March 5, 1881)

The Common Law (1881): Lecture I ("Early Forms of Liability")

Lecture II ("The Criminal Law")

Lecture III ("Torts—Trespass and Negligence")

Lecture VIII ("Elements of Contract")

To Laski (Feb. 1,1919; June 1,1922)

Globe Refining Co. v. Landa Cotton Oil Co. (1903)

LeRoy Fibre Co. v. Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Ry. (1914)

United Zinc & Chemical Co. v. Britt (1922)

Baltimore & Ohio R.R. v. Goodman (1927)

Brown v. United States (1921)

Commonwealth v. Pierce (1884)

Hamilton v. West End Street Ry. ( 1895)

Butler v. New York, New Haven fcf Hartford R.R. (1900)

Burt v. Advertiser Newspaper Co. (1891)

Hanson v. Globe Newspaper Co. (1893)

Arizona Employers' Liability Cases (1919)

'Johnson v. United States (1908)

International Stevedoring Co. v. Haverty (1926)

Boston Sand & Gravel Co. v. United States (1928)

Gompers v. United States (1914)

Missouri v. Holland (1920)

Springer v. Philippine Islands (1928)

"The Theory of Legal Interpretation" ( 1899)

Opinion of the Justices (1901)

Storti v. Commonwealth (1901)

Otis v. Parker (1903)

Lochner v. New York (1905)

Adkins v. Children's Hospital (1923)

Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)

Truax v. Corrigan (1921)

Tyson & Bro. v. Banton (1927)

Baldwin v. Missouri (1930)

Schenck v. United States (1919)

Abrams v. United States (1919)

Gitlow v. New York (1925)

To Einstein (July 11,1925)

United States v. Schwimmer (1929)

Hyde v. United States (1909)

Silverthorne Lumber Co. v. United States (1920)

To Laski (Aug. 24, 1927)

Frank v. Mangum (1915)

Moore v. Dempsey (1923)

Index