Holmes and Frankfurter: Their Correspondence, 1912-1934

The first publication of an extensive correspondence between two of the century's greatest American jurists.

The place of Oliver Wendell Holmes in American legal history has long been assured. Few Supreme Court justices have approached the position occupied by Holmes, his decisions and dissents even passing (albeit often inaccurately) into common discourse: "you can't yell fire in a theatre." His legal decisions and dissents possess a literary tone that sets them apart from other jurists': "Every idea is an incitement.... Eloquence may set fire to reason." (Gitlow v. N.Y.) It should be no surprise then to find Holmes's letters to Felix Frankfurter a pleasure to read. The editors' introduction, annotations, and references make the correspondence of these two great minds accessible to readers and browsers of all sorts.