LEARNED HAND: SELECTED CORRESPONDENCE

Presented By Professor Constance Jordan

To Be Telecast By C-SPAN

On Thursday, December 19, Professor Constance Jordan will examine the selected correspondence of one of the most distinguished jurists of the twentieth century, the Honorable Learned Hand. Learned Hand wrote approximately four thousand judicial opinions during his career. Admired for their clarity and analytic precision, they have been quoted more often in Supreme Court opinions and by legal scholars than those of any other lower-court judge.

Constance Jordan is Professor of English and Comparative Literature Emerita at Claremont Graduate University. Prof. Jordan has published many books and articles on the subject of literature and the law. She is also Learned Hand's granddaughter.

Place: Mitchell Courthouse – 100 North Calvert Street – Main Reading Room of the Bar Library (Room 618).

Time: 5:00 p.m., Thursday, December 19, 2013, with a wine & cheese reception immediately following.

Invitees: Members of the Library Company of the Baltimore Bar and their guests, judges, employees of Baltimore City and its courts, courthouse employees, government lawyers, public interest lawyers, law librarians, law and college faculty and students. Others may attend on payment of a $20 admission charge or upon application for Bar Library membership. All proceeds collected will go to the Bar Library’s Honorable Harry A. Cole Self-Help Center.

R.S.V.P.: If you would like to attend telephone the Library at 410-727-0280 or reply by e-mail to [email protected]

Reason and Imagination: The Selected Correspondence of Learned Hand

Judge Learned Hand is an icon of American Law. He was the model for all judges who followed him, setting the standard for the bench with a matchless combination of legal brilliance and vast cultural sophistication.

Hand was also renowned as a superb writer. Now, in Reason and Imagination, Constance Jordan offers a unique sampling of the correspondence between Hand and a stellar array of intellectual and legal giants, including Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Theodore Roosevelt, Walter Lippmann, Felix Frankfurter, Bernard Berenson, and many other prominent political and philosophical thinkers. The letters--many of which have never been published before-- cover almost half a century, often taking the form of brief essays on current events, usually seen through the prism of their historical moment. They reflect Hand's engagement with the issues of the day, ranging from the aftermath of World War I and the League of Nations, the effects of the Depression in the United States, the rise of fascism and the outbreak of World War II, McCarthyism, and the Supreme Court's decisions on segregation, among many other topics. Equally important, the letters showcase decades of penetrating and original thought on the major themes of American jurisprudence, particularly key interpretations of the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments, and will thus be invaluable to those interested in legal issues.

Most of these letters have never before been published, making this collection a priceless window into the mind and life of one of the giants of American law.

Reviews

"Read together, the correspondence of Learned Hand provide tremendous insight into the key constitutional and jurisprudential issues of the 20th century. They also give a real sense of the person who was one of the greatest judges in American history. In this impeccably organized and presented volume, Constance Jordan has done a profound service for all who are interested in American law." --Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean and Distinguished Professor of Law, University of California, Irvine School of Law

"Reason and Imagination is a magnificent contribution. Learned Hand is one of America's most significant legal/judicial thinkers, and his correspondence, impeccably edited by eminent literary scholar Constance Jordan, is a treasure trove of insights on subjects as diverse as free speech, the judicial role, the role of rational analysis and empathetic imagination in judging, and the nature of ethical thought itself." -- Martha Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics, The University of