The Common Law

The Common Law, published in 1881, was based on a series of lectures addressed to a lay audience in Boston by the most respected (then and now) of all American jurists, Oliver Wendell Holmes. Avoiding specialized language of his own or any other era, Holmes explains with scintillating clarity such fundamental concepts as: * Liability * Criminal law * Theory of torts * Trespass * Negligence * Fraud, malice, and intent * Bailment * Possession and ownership * Contract * Consideration * Void and voidable contracts * Successions after death * And successions in vivos For its clarification of basic legal principles that continue to underlie even the most current and controversial issues, The Common Law belongs on every lawyer's bookshelf.