The black letter law refers to the basic standard elements for a particular field of
law, which are generally known and free from doubt or dispute. It may, for example, be the standard elements for a
contract or the technical definition of
battery. The phrase does not come from association with
Black's Law Dictionary, which was first published in 1891. A quick search of legal databases turns up Naglee v. Ingersoll, 7 Pa. 185 (1847) where the phrase "black-letter law" is used. There is also a
U.S. Supreme Court case, Jackson ex dem Bradford v. Huntington, 30 U.S. 402, 432 (1831) that uses the phrase "
black letter" in the same sense as black letter law: "It is seldom that a case in our time savors so much of the black letter, but the course of decisions in New York renders it unavailable . . ."
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The principles of law which are generally known and free from doubt or dispute.
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