Toasting Transformation I

Abstract

This symposium pays tribute to the silver anniversary of the publication of Morton Horwitz's The Transformation of American Law, 1789-1860, which I will refer to as Transformation I so as not to confuse it with its equally celebrated and less excoriated sequel, The Transformation of American Law, 1879-1960: The Crisis of Legal Orthodoxy (Horwitz 1992). Twentyfive years out, most books are long forgotten, but Transformation I generated an astonishing impulse to commemorate this particular anniversary. I think this says something significant about the book's relationship to its audience, both at the time of its publication in 1977 and, even more interestingly, today. The three essays in this symposium originated as a session honoring the book and its author at the 2001 annual meeting of the American Society for Legal History. We also include here a response from Horwitz himself, who confined his participation in the session to a few self-effacing remarks (Horwitz 2003). Readers looking for the conventional academic review essay may profitably turn elsewhere (Tulsa Law Review 2002). But skipping the symposium is not recommended for those seeking enlightenment in the ways of the academy. Most publications bom in conference sessions undergo the kind of editing that strips them of the qualities that made them effective as oral presentations. These essays, which decisively succeeded in both entertaining and enlightening the large audience in attendance at the conference, possess a certain stylistic flair. Each one makes a substantive point about the book and links that point to the book's original reception while also charting the