One might be forgiven for thinking that this statement was made by a lawyer writing about the law of restitution. Indeed, references can be found in modern writings on the law of restitution to the ‘sense of excitement that comes from working as a pioneer’. But in fact the statement was written towards the end of the nineteenth century by Sir William Anson (as he was later to become) in a letter to Lord Justice Thesiger, his former pupil-master, on the publication of the first edition of his path-breaking book on the law of contract. Today, the word ‘explorer’ would not readily jump into one's mind if asked to describe a contract lawyer. The contours of the subject are now well defined. The modern contract lawyer is no longer thought of as an architect; rather, he or she resembles a plumber trying to repair the many leaks in the system and the leaks seem to increase as the system becomes ever more antiquated.

Yet in many ways Pollock and Anson were explorers. From the forms of action and the mass of detailed case law, they sought to deduce principles that were of general application.