 First edition | |
| Author | James Gould Cozzens |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Harcourt, Brace and Company |
Publication date | 1942 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| LC Class | PS3505.O99 |
| Preceded by | Ask Me Tomorrow |
| Followed by | Guard of Honor |
The Just and the Unjust is a novel by James Gould Cozzens published in 1942. Set in "Childerstown," a fictional rural town of 4000 persons, the novel is a courtroom drama of a murder trial that begins June 14, 1939,[1] and takes three days.
Cozzens lived in Lambertville, New Jersey, when he wrote The Just and the Unjust, and researched his subject by spending hours at the Doylestown, Pennsylvania courthouse. His protagonist is an assistant district attorney representing "the Commonwealth" and prosecuting in the "Court of Quarter Sessions," and the town was located on the route of Abraham Lincoln's funeral train, strongly suggesting that his Childerstown is also in Pennsylvania.
- ^ The first reference to the date, "Monday June 12" in the docket entries, is in error and the correct dates are noted later in the book.