Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes：Law and the Inner Self

Inthisthoroughandinsightfulscholarlybiography,White(EarlWarren)exploresthelinkedlifeandworkoflegendaryscholarandjuristHolmes(1841-1935).SonofafamedliteraryfatherandproductofaprivilegedBostonBrahminupbringing,HolmesenteredthelegalprofessionhavinglosthisyouthfulromanticismintheCivilWarwhenhewaswoundedthreetimes.Drawingonprodigiousresearch,WhitecloselyanalyzesHolmes'slegalscholarship,findingatensionbetweenhissubject'srelianceonbothexperienceandlogicinhisclassic,TheCommonLaw.TheauthoralsodissectsHolmes'sSupremeCourtopinions,describinghowhisreputationgrewandsuggestingthatHolmes'sfamousrhetoriconfreespeech("everyideaisanincitement")wasmemorablebutobscuredphilosophicalcontradictions,perhapsbecausehischangingideasonfreespeechhadlesstodowiththeconsistentevolutionoflegaldoctrinethanwiththeinfluenceofcertainWashingtonintellectuals.Holmes'swifeFannysupplieddomesticity,butthecoupleneverhadchildren;andHolmes'sonegreatextra-maritalromancewiththeAnglo-IrisharistocratClareCastletownwasepistolaryonly.Hisself-controlandhisambition,Whitesuggests,allowedHolmestoconcentrateonhiswork.Thatwork,alongwithHolmes'sstatureasa"figureofpublicromance,"willlongstimulatestudentsofhistory.