Law book explained

A law book is a book about law. It is possible to make a distinction between "law books" on the one hand, and "books about law" on the other.^[1] This distinction is "useful".^[2] A law book is "a work of legal doctrine".^[1] It consists of "law talk", that is to say, propositions of law.^[2] "The first duty of a law book is to state the law as it is, truly and accurately, and then the reason or principle for it as far as it is known".^[3] The "first requisite in a law-book is perfect accuracy".^[4] A "law book is supposed to state what the law is rather than what it is not".^[5] "One great desideratum in a law book is facility of reference".^[6] A "list of law books and related materials" is a legal bibliography.^[7]

See also

• Legal treatise
• Law dictionary

Further reading

• Lawrence M Friedman and Stewart Macaulay (editors). Law and the Behavioural Sciences. Second Edition. Bobbs-Merrill. 1977. Pages 21 to 26.
• Twining, William. Blackstone's Tower: The English Law School. The Hamlyn Lectures Forty-Sixth Series. Published under the auspices of the Hamlyn Trust. Sweet & Maxwell. Stevens & Sons. London. 1994. . Chapters 1 and 5. Digitized copy from the University of Exeter.

Notes and References

1. Abel . Richard L. . Richard Abel (lawyer) . Law Books and Books about Law . November 1973 . . 26 . 1 . 175–228 . 10.2307/1227916 . 1227916.
2. Book: Twining . William . William Twining . Miers . David . How to do Things with Rules . 4th . Butterworths . London, Edinburgh, Dublin . 1999 . 0-406-90408-1 . 422.
3. Book: Kent, James . . 3 . New York . O. Halsted . 1828 . 88 . Google Books.
4. Scotsman, quoted in Book: James Campbell Irons . Robert Dundonald Melville . Treatise on the Law of Arbitration in Scotland . Edinburgh . William Green & Sons . 1903 . 622 . 9780414008205 . Google Books.
5. Book: Law Book News . St. Paul, Minnesota . West Publishing Company . 1896 . 2 . 84 . 9780837708799 . Google Books.
6. Review of New Books: A Practical Treatise on the Law of Trusts and Trustees . . London . 1837 . 1042 . p. 348, col 2 . Google Books.
7. Book: Pagel . Scott B . The Legal Bibliography: Tradition, Transitions and Trends . . 1989 . 0-86656-932-4 . 1 . Google Books.