Some Unpublished Letters of Justice Holmes. Reprinted from T'ien Hsia Monthly. [Together with] -- The Quest of Justice: Reflections on Interpretations of Modern Legal Philosophies. Reprinted from the Iowa Law Review, Vol. 33, No. 1, November 1947.

WU, John Ching Hsiung - HOLMES, Oliver Wendell, Jr.

Published by Shanghai: T'ien Hsia Monthly, 1935

About this Item

A presentation offprint recording the remarkable friendship between Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. and his Chinese protégé John C. H. Wu, inscribed by Wu on the front wrapper to Dr Alfred E. Kane, Nanking, 30 June 1937. Wu - drafter of China's first national constitution - maintained an intimate correspondence with Holmes for over a decade. A second offprint, also inscribed to Kane, commemorates their reunion in Rome in February 1948. Born in Ningbo, Wu Jingxiong (1899-1986) earned his JD at the University of Michigan in 1921 and later joined the Legislative Yuan, working with Sun Fo to draft China's first constitution. He co-founded the English-language journal Tien Hsia Monthly, a flagship of Republican China's cosmopolitan intellectual culture. After sending his first academic article to Holmes in 1921, Wu began a correspondence that lasted until Holmes's death in 1935. Nearly 50 letters, written between 1921 and 1932 and later published in Tien Hsia, chart a relationship that was both intellectually rigorous and warmly personal, with Holmes offering detailed criticism, philosophical reflection, and paternal encouragement. Wu's later career - including wartime translations of biblical texts, participation in the Chinese delegation to the founding UN conference, and a postwar academic appointment in the United States - stands as a testament to this transpacific legal and intellectual exchange. The recipient, Alfred E. Kane (1901-1992), was a China specialist trained at Michigan and Columbia, later serving the US government in several legal roles. Tien Hsia offprints are rare and elusive. Copies are recorded at a handful of major American institutions. A separate American edition, Justice Holmes to Doctor Wu: An Intimate Correspondence, 1921-1932, appeared later in 1935 and was subsequently reprinted. Geremie R. Barmé, "The Heritage of T'ien Hsia, All-Under-Heaven", China Heritage Quarterly, no. 19, September 2019. Two works, large octavo. Original buff wrappers, front covers printed in black. Some Unpublished Letters housed in brown morocco-backed custom box. Some Unpublished Letters: gatherings now loose in fragile original wrappers, spine and front cover sometime restored with Japanese tissue, text toned; Quest of Justice: neatly put back into wrappers with adhesive, light toning and foxing, a few nicks. Very good copies of two delicate publications.

Seller Inventory # 172868

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Some Unpublished Letters of Justice Holmes. Reprinted from T'ien Hsia Monthly. [Together with] -- The Quest of Justice: Reflections on Interpretations of Modern Legal Philosophies. Reprinted from the Iowa Law Review, Vol. 33, No. 1, November 1947.
• Publisher: Shanghai: T'ien Hsia Monthly, 1935
• Edition: 1st Edition