Concerning Justice

Book excerpt: Emery, Lucilius A. Concerning Justice. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1914. vii, 170 pp. Reprinted 2002 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-234-4. Cloth. $60. * This volume reprints the Storrs lectures delivered by Emery [1840-1920] at Yale University in 1914. Emery's profound knowledge of constitutional law and keen interest in philosophy and history are clearly evident here. Beginning with conceptions of justice in Antiquity and in the Judeo-Christian tradition, Emery develops a general theory of rights, and uses it as a basis for his definition of justice. His other lectures deal with the securing of justice. Influenced perhaps by the outbreak of hostilities in Europe, Emery asserts that the United States has created the finest system yet for its preservation. "It is most emphatically a book which, once read, is kept on hand for a re-reading." H.W.C. Yale L.J. 24: 263 as cited in Marke, A Catalogue of the Law Collection at New York University (1953) 191. Dictionary of American Biography 144-145.