Common Law

Name: Common Law
ISBN: 9787301338155

奥利弗·温德尔·霍姆斯 / 明辉Peking University Press · ChinaJun 2025

4.7

Word count: 221K words
Chapters: 14
ISBN: 9787301338155

Report an error Find this book

Summary

This book is a purely scholarly legal work by the renowned American jurist and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Holmes. It is in fact a collection of lectures he delivered at the Lowell Institute in 1880–1881 under the title The Common Law.

The book comprises a "Preface" and eleven lectures. Taking a holistic historical perspective, it sorts through, analyzes, and synthesizes the basic theories of the common law and their formation and evolution across criminal law, tort law, property law, contract, and inheritance.

To this day the book is still celebrated as "an important work in the history of American legal scholarship" and stands as a milestone in the development of Anglo-American legal theory.

Editor's review

Holmes's work originated in a series of lectures delivered at the Lowell Institute between 1880 and 1881. Taking a holistic historical perspective, it spans criminal law, tort law, property law, contract, and inheritance, tracing the formation and evolution of the fundamental theories of the common law. Its scholarly value lies not in offering a manual of current rules but in presenting a way of looking at law: inducing principles from historical experience rather than deducing them from abstract concepts. The structure of a preface and eleven lectures gives the book both systematic coherence and the readability of a lecture series, and to this day it is regarded as an important work in the history of American legal scholarship and a milestone in the development of Anglo-American legal theory. It suits law students seeking to build a historical framework of the common law, as well as readers interested in legal theory who wish to understand the mode of thinking of the case-law tradition. Ming Hui's translation brings Chinese readers closer to this classic. Note that the book discusses common law theory in its nineteenth-century context; readers should approach it with historical awareness rather than expecting it to resolve concrete present-day cases.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Law students who need to build a historical framework and theoretical lineage of the common law
Scholars of jurisprudence or legal history interested in the theoretical formation of the case-law tradition
Non-specialist readers interested in the Anglo-American legal system who have some patience for reading
Students preparing to study common law abroad who want to understand its mode of thinking in advance

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for current statutes or practical solutions to specific legal disputes
Complete beginners with no legal background who are unwilling to engage with theoretical exposition
Readers expecting light popularization who lack patience for academic lecture-style texts

Reading tips

Read the preface first to grasp Holmes's overall approach, then proceed lecture by lecture in the order of criminal law, tort, property, contract, and inheritance
After each lecture, summarize in one paragraph the evolutionary logic of common law principles in that field, building your own framework notes
Look up background materials as needed when encountering historical cases and terminology; do not aim to master everything in one reading
Read alongside introductory common law textbooks to help distinguish historical exposition from current doctrine

About the publisher

Peking University Press China · Founded in 1979

Peking University Press is a comprehensive university press whose publishing areas cover classical literature, popular science, social culture, world history, Western philosophy, and culture. Its catalogue contains 6,031 titles, with representative books including A Dream of Red Mansions, Relativity: The Special and General Theory (15th Edition) (with Einstein's classic papers on unified field theory and other topics), Elements, Conics, The Aristocratic Families of the Eastern Jin, The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume I), The Philosophy of Mythology (Volume II), and The Origin of Continents and Oceans. Representative authors include Cao Xueqin, Zhou Ruchang, Albert Einstein, Euclid, Apollonius, Tian Yuqing, Schelling, and Xian Gang. The press has developed distinctive strengths in classical Chinese literature and in the translation of Western philosophical classics, while also covering scientific classics and social and cultural studies. As public information is limited, this description is based only on the books in the catalogue and offers no further extrapolation.

版权信息
序言
第01讲责任的早期形式
第02讲刑法
第03讲侵权法——侵害与过失
第04讲欺诈、恶意与故意——侵权法理论
第05讲普通法上的受托人
第06讲占有
第07讲合同——（1）历史
第08讲合同——（2）构成要素
第09讲合同——（3）无效与可撤销
第10讲继承——（1）死后，（2）生前
第11讲继承——生前
译后记

FAQ

Can I understand this book without a legal background?

It is somewhat difficult but worth attempting. This book is a series of academic lectures involving specialized concepts in criminal law, tort, property, contract, and other fields. It is advisable to first acquire basic common law terminology or read alongside an introductory textbook. Without any background and without patience, the reading experience will be rather demanding.

Does this book discuss American law or English law?

The book discusses the common law tradition. Holmes traces the formation and evolution of its fundamental theories from a historical perspective, covering criminal law, tort law, property law, contract, and inheritance. The common law originated in England and developed its own form in the United States; the book reflects theoretical thinking within this tradition in the context of American legal scholarship, rather than being a compilation of the current statutes of any one country.

Why is it said to be an important work in the history of American legal scholarship?

Sources indicate that the book is still acclaimed as an important work in the history of American legal scholarship and a milestone in the development of Anglo-American legal theory. Its importance lies in inducing the fundamental theories of the common law from a holistic historical perspective, demonstrating a legal method that distills principles from historical experience and shaping later understanding of the case-law tradition.

Do I need to read this book in order from beginning to end?

Reading in order is recommended. The book consists of a preface and eleven lectures. Each lecture addresses a different area of law, but they share the same historical perspective and methodology. Reading the preface first to understand the author's intent and then proceeding through the lectures in sequence allows for a better grasp of the coherent thread of how common law theory is formed and evolves across different fields.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

奥利弗·温德尔·霍姆斯 Author

Oliver Wendell Holmes is an important author in the field of law, with two works included in the collection, whose representative works are The Common Law and The Path of the Law. Because public information is limited, his dates of birth and death, nationality, and full educational background cannot be confirmed here; this introduction relies only on the collection's information and widely accepted general knowledge. Holmes's writing centers on legal theory, discussing the formation of the common law, the reasoning of judicial decisions, and the relationship between law and morality. His language is concise and his arguments rigorous, often advancing his views through clear conceptual analysis. The Common Law is regarded as a significant text in common law studies, while The Path of the Law has had a lasting influence through its brief and sharp discussion. His works suit readers interested in jurisprudence and the common law tradition, and remain important introductions and references for understanding Anglo-American legal thought.

明辉 Author

Ming Hui is a Chinese author about whom relatively little public information is available. Two works can currently be confirmed under this name, both classified in the legal category. The representative titles are Common Law and The Path of the Law. Judging from the titles and the classification, the writing centers on law and may touch on themes such as the common law tradition, legal thought, and legal method. Because the available records contain no detailed biographical information, the author's background, professional experience, and period of writing cannot be established, nor is it clear whether these works are original writings, compilations, translations, or some other form of editorial work. On the basis of the existing material, what can be said is that Ming Hui focuses on the relatively specialized field of law; the number of works is small, but the themes are fairly concentrated, suggesting a sustained interest in spreading legal knowledge and discussing legal ideas. Readers who wish to learn more about the author's style and specific views would still need to consult the original books themselves.