Henry Campbell Black 
Handbook on the Law of Judicial Precedents, or the Science of Case Law 

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. Nearly a quarter of a century ago, the late Mr. Justice Miller, of the Supreme Court of the United States, in a public address on the use and value of authorities in the argument and decision of cases, expressed his surprise that no book had yet been written, or none that he had seen, distinctively devoted to the subject on which he was speaking, adding, perhaps by way of explanation of the fact, that the sources of such a work are not ample and are difficult to come at. If a systematic and comprehensive treatise on the law of judicial precedents was a desideratum at that time, it is much more so to – day. For the reported decisions have enormously multiplied, and the lawyer’s problem now is not merely to find the law, but to weigh and estimate the value of what he discovers. Now, more than ever, he needs a guide through the lawless science of the law, the count less myriad of precedents. Moreover the rules which gov ern the subject, – ii rules they can be called, which rest only in judicial discretion and have no stronger sanction than judicial habit, – are intricate and not free from confusion, and have long been in need of clear and discriminating ex position. Also it is true that the very theory of the prece dent has been vigorously assailed of late in high quarters, and there are evidences of an insistent demand for greater flexibility in the interpretation of the law and a closer cor respondence between the rulings of the courts and what is supposed to be the spirit of the age or the wants and wishes of the people.