Selected Writings of James Fitzjames Stephen - The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, by his brother Leslie Stephen (Hardcover)

Reviews

"‘A NARRATIVE THAT EMBRACES LEGAL HISTORY’......" by Phillip T. - 1 November 2017

‘A NARRATIVE THAT EMBRACES LEGAL HISTORY’ THE BIOGRAPHY OF AN EMINENT VICTORIAN JURIST BY HIS BROTHER, LESLIE STEPHEN An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers and Reviews Editor, “The Barrister” For those interested in legal history (and if you aren’t, you ought to be) this book, published recently by the Oxford University Press is quite a find. As the OUP has put it quite succinctly, this is ‘a biography of one eminent Victorian by another’ -- the former a distinguished nineteenth century jurist; the latter, his younger brother Leslie Stephen. In case you’re wondering, yes, he is that Leslie Stephen, the father of Virginia Woolf. The Stephen clan were a distinguished family in more ways than one. This biography, as the publishers point out, is ‘an indispensable source for the history of the Stephen family’ and as such should attract the interest of literary lions as well as legal eagles. It is interesting that James Fitzjames Stephen has his own OUP series, under the same title as this biography. It’s worth listing here some of the titles therein, which are self-explanatory and all the more compelling for that: ‘A History of the Criminal Law of England’… ‘On Justice and Jurisprudence’… ‘On Society, Religion and Government’… and… ‘On the Novel and Journalism.’ This last -- who knows -- might well have influenced Virginia Woolf. And that’s not all. In addition to other research resources, the book provides a twenty-page bibliography containing, we would assume, the list in full of Fitzjames Stephen’s articles and reviews, as well as a considerable number of his letters. Judging by some of the annotations in the bibliography by editor Thomas E Schneider, ‘JFS’, as he was referred to, could come up with some sharp, trenchant comments, some dismissive, some insulting, but always to the point. After writing, for example, an article entitled ‘The House of Commons as a Debating Club’ (1868) he found himself having to apologise for ‘some rough phrases.’ ‘My brother always likes to argue,’ says a quote attributed to Leslie Stephen as cited in Hermione Lee’s introductory essay, which also contains some interesting insights on Virginia (Stephen) Woolf as well as her sister, Vanessa Bell. And argue he did, notably with such luminaries as John Stuart Mill. Not only was he a jurist, ‘FJS’ was a prolific writer in an age when free speech was genuinely free. ‘I have been writing like a small steam engine,’ he remarked on a passage to India, referring to no less than fourteen articles he had sent to the PMG (Pall Mall Gazette) since he left home. In his preface of 1895, Leslie Stephen reveals his purpose in writing this biography. ‘I am no lawyer,’ he says, ‘and I should have considered this fact to be a sufficient reason for silence.’ His aim, however, was ‘to describe the man, rather than to give an history of what he did.’ And to this end, the book functions admirably The book is indeed ‘a narrative that embraces legal history, the government of India, the Victorian press, the crisis of religious faith… “paradise lost” of political liberalism…’ and much more. A treasure trove of fact, anecdote and analysis, it provides illuminating insights into the intellectual ferment that characterised the Victorian age. For lawyers and non-lawyers alike, it is a fascinating read. The publication date is cited as at 6th April 2017.