Specific Performance in France and Germany

Edgar Durfee studied long and closely the subject of specific performance. He taught it for many years, wrote about it and planned to ·write more. He conceived it broadly, as he did every subject that ever had his attention, but he had a lively interest in details, including very technical details. Long before others and much more than most, he saw the importance of our remedial system both in shaping law and as a reflection of its larger purposes.

All those who learned from him will remember as long as memory lasts the insight he gave and the hidden meanings he extracted from careful study of lawyers' technique. He was also fascinated by history, and was a fine historian in his own right. This study, which will be largely historical, aims to follow one of the many lines of his own interests and to mark in small degree the lasting effects of his influence. It is also meant to express some of the sorrow felt by so many at the death of this wise, gifted and beloved man.