Reprint of the third edition. More convenient than the extensive contemporary works of Collier or Remington, Black's handy treatise, which uses the format of a West Hornbook, offers a summary of the law as it stood in the early 1920s. Though its size led some to suspect it was superficial, it was generally well-received and did much to popularize the field. As one reviewer wrote, "[i]t is to be hoped [this book] marks the beginning of a new period in bankruptcy law that will witness its welcoming into the repertoire of the lawyer as one of the regular devices for regulating business relations.": Nathan Isaacs, University of Pennsylvania Law Review 73 (1924-1925) 120.

A survey of the early major developments of the law of bankruptcy can be found in these three volumes comprising nearly 2,000 pages. While the primary focus is on the 1898 law, including a critical analysis of it, the important and authoritative rulings under the Acts of 1841 and 1867 are included as well as those under the three amendments through 1910. The author declares that the law and practice of bankruptcy has crystallized into a definitive system. Separate chapters are devoted to matters such as the rights and liabilities of secured creditors, the rights of a trustee in bankruptcy as against a prior assignee for creditors, the powers and duties of referees in bankruptcy, fraudulent and voidable conveyances by the bankrupt, preferences, and bankruptcy of corporations and partnerships.